


a little birdie told me

by StormySkiesAhead



Series: fur and feathers universe [3]
Category: Primeval, various - Fandom
Genre: (almost everyone) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Everyone Is Gay, Everyone is a mutant, F/F, F/M, Feral Cat Patrick Quinn, Gen, Just so you know what you're getting into, M/M, Moondancers, Other, Overpowered Original Character, Raptors Have Feathers, Stephen is a mutant and no you CANNOT change my mind, Technically?, Telepathic Bonds, Telepathy, Very seriously, a bit of a soap opera, absolutely overpowered characters, accurate dinosaurs, archosauripathy, automatically assume any f/m relationship here is between two bi and/or pan people, background danny quinn/oc's mom, folks i wanted to write talking accurate dinosaurs and this is what I got, folks this is some pretty wack nonsense just as a forewarning, hawks have dumb bitch disease, i'm having the time of my life here!, into other areas where they're even more op, is fun!, literally anyone: why do you write young characters all the time?, me: because I want to traumatize them, mild crack taken seriously, named dinosaur characters, or at least I try, renamed because puns, seriously i am tired and gay i want people to be happy damnit, shoving op characters that fit just fine in my TTR lineup, talking dinosaurs, team baby, this fic exists because y'all have NO IDEA how much FUN it is to write, very specifically danny/oc's mom is a bit of a soap opera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:53:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 92,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22018951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormySkiesAhead/pseuds/StormySkiesAhead
Summary: The fact of the matter, Dr. Henson thinks, is that the baby of their research team, little Dr. Azose, is absolutely terrifying.Maybe it’s the fact that her smile always seems to contain teeth in the most off-putting way, maybe it’s the glow behind her eyes when their equipment doesn’t break down, maybe it’s the fact that despite the fact that she’s sixteen, she’s not some insufferable mess at even being included on this team, instead being honestly grateful they’d even let her join-But no, it’s probably the way she talks to the birds.-Archosauripathy is a very rare mutation, and very much a welcome one to add to the team. The fact that it's attached to a sixteen year old Moondancer is irrelevant.
Relationships: Abby Maitland/Connor Temple, Danny Quinn/Original Female Character(s), Danny Quinn/oc's mom, Emily Merchant/Sarah Page, Jess Parker/Original Female Character(s), Matt Anderson/Hilary James Becker, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Nick Cutter/Stephen Hart, Original Female Character(s)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: fur and feathers universe [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1316921
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. breach

The fact of the matter, Dr. Henson thinks, is that the baby of their research team, little Dr. Azose, is absolutely terrifying.

Maybe it’s the fact that her smile always seems to contain teeth in the most off-putting way, maybe it’s the glow behind her eyes when their equipment doesn’t break down, maybe it’s the fact that despite the fact that she’s  _ sixteen, _ she’s not some insufferable mess at even being included on this team, instead being honestly grateful they’d even let her join-

But no, it’s probably the way she talks to the birds.

Dr. Henson files it under ‘cryptid version of a disney princess’ when she speaks to them like she understands fully, when her teeth no longer look human sometimes as she stares down a hawk that’s done something immesurably stupid (as hawks tend to do- they are the kings of idiocy amongst birds), when she knows things she shouldn’t.

“Thank you,” she says, when she leaves, and Dr. Henson looks up, confused, so she clarifies: “For not- for not treating me like I didn't know what I was talking about.”

Dr. Henson swallows sharply, as he stares at eyes that  _ should _ be light brown right now, not wolf-gold.

“You're welcome,” he says instead.

* * *

They respond to the detector with haste, and find that they’re not the first people on the scene. Instead, there is a young girl with a raptor in her lap- and Cutter bites back  _ ‘That thing’s dangerous, get away!’ _ because the raptor with its head in her lap is looking like it doesn’t have a care in the world, and this thing is at least an adolescent, if not an adult, not like the Smilodon had been, a cub needing a mother.

“Oh! Hello!” the teenager says, and Cutter blinks.

“Ah. Would you… step away from the creature, please, miss?”

“Doctor.”

“What?” he asks, and his eyebrows are disappearing into his hairline because unless he’s received severe hearing damage he could have sworn he’d heard-

“Doctor Shoshannah Azose, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she says, but doesn’t step away from the raptor.

“Ah, Doctor Azose, my apologies, I fear I thought you far younger”

“No, I am probably as young as you think I am. It’s strange. Now, I’m  _ assuming _ you’re here for the Deinonychus, and the fact that there’s a military team here suggests this is some sort of operation within official capacity. If it has anything to do with the large floating-glass portal from earlier, I must offer my apologies- it vanished several minutes ago. She didn’t get back through in time.”

Instead of passing the Deinonychus- apparently a ‘her’- to someone to tranquilize, the doctor  _ picks up _ the  _ seventy kilo raptor _ with ease.

“I don’t suppose you have a large animal carrier?”

“No, we do not, Doctor.”

“Ah, that’s fine then, I can carry her. I don’t think tranquilizers are the best idea, she’s been rather calm so far and I don’t think any of us want to risk her getting sick, she’s quite the lovely specimen.”

‘She’ is. The feathers are a lustrous blue that reminds Cutter of an American Blue Jay more than anything else (it’s the only bird he’s ever heard of with feathers  _ that _ saturated in color). ‘She’ has a crest of feathers and a set of markings around her eyes almost like the mask of a peregrine falcon.

“The males looked even more striking,” she says offhandedly, “They looked more like parrots than hunters, though I do suppose the green snaked in probably helps them hide just a little bit.”

Ah. So there were others.

“At least twelve, mixed between adults and juveniles- three juveniles, nine other adults besides her. Appeared to be a bit wolf-like, most of the adults were smaller- her included- than two of them, a large female and a slightly smaller male. I’m assuming, of course,” she adds at the end, in a voice that says she Absolutely Is Not Assuming.

It’s strange.

Doctor Azose is a bubbly girl, to say the least, with a bright grin.

She's also  _ sixteen,  _ apparently, something Lester shouts aggravatedly at the  _ very _ young doctor who shrugs and continues to placate the Deinonychus.

Who is progressively getting more and more frustrated as this goes on, until she moves to take a lump out of Cutter and suddenly, Dr. Azose’s voice is dark and  _ massive, _ like the voice of some great dragon rather than the voice of a teenager, and the Deinonychus stops in her tracks, and stares.

“You know damn well that attacking someone is not going to get you anything that you want, now  _ sit down, _ ” the young doctor hisses.

“I'm sorry, but why are you speaking to the raptor like it can understand you?”

“Ah, it’s- it’s better to demonstrate, I think,” Dr. Azose says, and just like that, their ears are ringing. They can’t hear anything beyond a concerned voice, but-

_ “Hello? Hello? Oh dear, biggun, I don’t think they’re very used to that. Can you hear me?” _

It’s the raptor, without a doubt, speaking in an accent Cutter recognizes, but can’t name by the time- The ringing and the voice snap away within another second, and Doctor Azose gasps, shaking herself.

“My apologies, that’s- I was sort of imposing my own sense of hearing onto yours- it’s painful, and it can’t be used often, but it illustrates it properly.”

She leaves.

“Do you think it’s ethical to hire that young? The power set is vital, obviously, considering raptors can clearly be aggressive maneaters when they feel the need, and if it applies to other animals- wait, does it?”

Lester blinks down at his desk, and reaches for his phone.

“I’m going to have to make a few calls.”

* * *

Archosauripathy is useful  _ beyond belief. _ They’d expected something closer to avipathy, something that could snake up to all maniraptorans, or maybe all coelurosaurs if they were lucky.

Nobody had expected a full-on archosauripath, and Connor is  _ living _ for this.

“So, can you-” Connor casts his eyes around for a bird, and finds a house sparrow in the rafters- “Translate what that bird up there is saying!”

“Yeah, sure!” she chirps (and isn’t that hilarious, the fact that she can  _ chirp _ ), and the house sparrow comes fluttering down.

“Okay. Uhm, I’m not sure that’s appropriate for the workplace, actually, because this little guy has been stuck in here for  _ days _ and he is  _ very _ upset.”

Connor’s snort is so strong it sends hin into a coughing fit. The house sparrow sits itself on Dr. Azose’s head and  _ glares _ at him, and Connor laughs harder.

Abby joins them with raised eyebrows, but there are a few windows in the ARC that make it so they don’t have to go all the way out through security and then back again.

“Well,  _ someone’s _ an ungrateful little shit,” their new teammate mutters under her breath as the sparrow twitters angrily before leaving, “He’s not even  _ hungry _ , he’s been stealing food.”

“Ah, Doctor?” Abby asks, and the kid grins, “How old are you? You’re a lot less… professional… than Professor Cutter.”

“Sixteen!” she chirps, and heads back to her desk. Abby blinks at Connor, who can’t form much of a response to that, either, except-

“Well, I can see  _ why _ , but I’m sure we could have functioned well enough without that sort of addition for quite a while?”

“Oh, shut it, she’s  _ adorable _ . Can you remember being that excited about something? Because the last time I was that bouncy, I was twelve.”

* * *

“No,” Azose says, bouncing up on her toes in place, staring down an allosaur like it’s the easiest thing in the world, “No, you  _ can’t _ eat them. Because it’s  _ rude _ , that’s why. Also, they’re mostly skeleton, there’s very little meat on any of them, more trouble than it’s worth. You won’t find anything that is more worth than trouble on this side, either.”

The allosaur has the gall to sound  _ annoyed _ with its next deep snort.

“Yeah, I  _ get it. _ Question is, though, is it worth it to stay around a shrinking pond where the only thing to eat are members of your own species?”

“What is a species- wow, okay. Just go back through the anomaly, please. If I’m right about where you are, just keep going towards the sunset until you find an acceptable body of water. Or opposite of the sunrise. If you don’t have a fixed point, you’ll end up going in circles. Now. If you’d please take that information and use it, I think it’ll make us both far happier if you did.”

The allosaur backs off, and people start to stare.

“What? This is what you all hired me for!”

Stephen thinks it would be  _ rude _ to tell her  _ ‘Well, not all of us thought you  _ could _ do it’. _ He may be a bit of an ass at times, but even he’s got a thing against being rude to children, and that’s really what the slip (not really, she’s at least a few centimeters taller than Abby and she’s still growing) of a doctor is- a child.

“Oh, Lester, what have you gotten all of us into this time?” Stephen mutters to himself, as he drives the least professional amongst the main team back to base while Cutter stays to assist with the anomaly readings.

“Hey, question- and this has been irritating me since we left- but functionally speaking, did I change the past by offering advice or was this always supposed to happen?”

Ah. Of course. Kids and their  _ questions _ .

“I would tell you to ask someone else, but we don’t have any theoretical physicists on the team. Automatically assume anyone with expertise was probably an accidental hire such as yourself.”

Wow, that actually sounded useful. Stephen is mildly proud of himself, for not getting bitter and snapping at people again. Although the feeling does feel a bit artificial, like the calm isn’t his. Like he’s been drugged.

Stephen slams on the brakes and starts frantically checking for needles, when-

“Whoa, hey, if I knew you were going to freak out like that I would have kept my shields up!”   
It’s the kid again, and the feeling shuts down  _ immediately. _

“What,” Abby says, “Was  _ that? _ ”

“S’called an empathy field,” Azose says, “Keeps people calm and happy within a certain distance of the user, if their shields are down. I have to keep mine up, most of the time, or I generate it passively, which tends to piss people off once they move out of range.”

“Well, could you put your shields back  _ up? _ I’d like sole ownership of my mind, thank you very much,” he bites.

“I  _ already _ put them back up!”

“Hey, no need to be a brat about it,” Abby cuts in, “Just… keep the brain-tentacles or however that works away from us.”

“Actually, it’s the other way around,” Azose says, and her voice is  _ much _ smaller, “When I’m tired, it’s like- it’s like walking into a crowded room full of people who are shouting, and sometimes, sometimes you can block it out, or walk through just fine, but sometimes you just want to sit down in the corner and cover your ears so they’ll shut up and you can  _ sleep. _ ”

“Ouch.”

That’s Connor, in the passenger seat to his left.

Stephen feels both pairs of eyes of the other adults in the car on him, and stares back at Abby through the rearview mirror.

“I’m not going to apologize-”

“You don’t have to, it was my fault.”

The kid’s grin is sheepish, but they’re stuck in enough traffic that Stephen has time to turn around and shake her hand in a truce.

“So. We’re all going to be stuck in this car for what, at least another hour, yeah?” Abby says, and Stephen sighs and slumps back in the driver’s seat.

“At least.”

“Well, I was thinking we could at least find  _ one _ conversation topic to pass the time,” she replies awkwardly.

“Politics is out, either all of us agree and we get angry over the same side of the same thing, or we disagree and get into a fight,” Connor notes.

“Has anything from the future ever come through one of the anomalies?” Azose- Shoshannah, it’s probably more polite to think of her by her first name, she  _ is _ still a kid after all- chirps.

“Yeah! Some sort of future predator, actually, a completely blind thing that hunts by hearing. One got through via another anomaly to the Permian- apparently a years-earlier version of the Gorgonopsid Stephen had to kill when we first found out about the anomalies ended up saving everyone’s lives.”

“Oh, really? How big was the Gorgonopsid?”

“About the size of a car.”

“Huh, that’s an undiscovered species, then, innit?”

“Or a ridiculously large  _ Inostranvencia. _ ”

“Stem mammals are  _ weird,” _ Shoshannah finally says, staring out the window.

“Any other weird abilities we should know about?” Stephen finds himself asking, and Shoshannah cocks her head.

“Aside from the archosauripathy, I’ve mostly got the traditional Moondancer lineup of abilities.”

“Which would be?”

“Anything that helps us get a handle on werewolves,” she says, then sighs and shakes her head, “No- that’s not quite right. Ah, shapeshifting and a mix of telepathy and empathy tend to be the basic set, though most of us can do other things outside of that, it’s mostly a matter of experimentation.”

“Anything… else?”

“Oh, I could probably pick up this car, but I figured that was a bit more concerning and you all might not want to hear that one.”

“No, the enhanced strength is  _ fine, _ that is  _ not _ the most concerning power.”

“If it makes you all feel any better, Moondancer shape-shifting still leaves the owner with the same eye-color, the only one I could realistically mimic without contact lenses would be Connor, and I’m allergic to colored contacts. Also, it feels  _ really _ wrong to even try, and the only person I’ve ever even attempted to copy was my mother.”

“That… actually does make me feel better,” Connor says, “Not the mimicking-me part, the, uh, you have no experience doing so part.”

“Also, they’re really easy to see through if you know the person  _ at all. _ I’ve only met one person who can flawlessly copy, and he’s not exactly my most emotionally stable cousin.”

“Oh?” and this is actually interesting-

“Yeah, Kaleb has this whole case full of colored contacts, and he tries to act all nice and sweet and non-confrontational in front of people, but if you skim anywhere below the surface you’d know that he’s either constantly on the verge of a breakdown or absolutely disassociating. I feel sorry for ‘im, really, he wasn’t half as good before he went to prison, and I think the trauma of it might have been what diverted his attention towards that type of shifting.”

The car ride is rather silent after that.

* * *

“Cutt _ eeerrr _ ,” Connor whines, “Can you help me win this argument?”

“He doesn’t have anything that can help you, this is from personal experience with pigeons!”

“But everyone  _ knows _ it was the friendliness that did the Dodo in!”

“For the last time, it was the  _ rats,  _ and the  _ cats _ and the  _ pigs,” _ Shosh replies, “Like it is with  _ any _ flightless bird!”

“You’ve not met a Dodo, though!”

“Yah, but plenty of animals are friendly at first shake, and they’re not dead, are they?”

“YOU’RE BOTH RIGHT, NOW  _ SHUT THE HELL UP, _ ” Cutter snarls in reply. Connor jumps, but Shosh cocks her head, and the frustration washes away.

“Oh, you’re doing the-” Connor snaps his fingers once, twice, as Cutter blinks in curiosity at his desk, “The thing! The thing with the brain!”

“Oh, no, this time it’s intentional,” Shoshannah says quietly, and there’s a bit of a fog around his head, but Cutter knows well enough to turn to her, confused.

“It’s a Moondancer thing, don’t worry about it. Normally I wouldn’t mess around anywhere near people’s heads- would make you lot uncomfortable, but this is more of a general-area calmness blanket, it’s not  _ directed. _ ”

“No, it’s nice, please keep it up,” one of the soldiers nearby says drowsily. Shoshannah snaps it off, and Cutter, while devoid of his frustration from before, doesn’t feel nearly as drowsy.

“Ah, sorry, came on a bit too strong, I think. I haven’t done anything like that in a little while.”

* * *

There’s a massive shape that moves through the halls. The men are on high alert, up until there’s an exaggerated sigh and a yawn.

“Oi, calm down, it’s just me,” the creature says with a familiar voice, “When I said I was a shape-changer, I  _ meant it. _ ”

It’s a wolf the size of a small car, with wide, loping strides… and no claws. Or, rather, semi-retractable claws, and bigger paws than Abby’s ever seen on a wolf, and she’s seen big wolves.

“You’re freaking them out,” she calls, and the wolf sighs, and Abby watches in the corner of her eye as the transformation takes place- it’s over in the blink of an eye, the wolf’s hind legs below the middle giving way to feet and the hands uncurling from the paws.

She’s just as primly dressed as always, when she continues forwards, and there’s a flash of lupine gold in her eyes.

Aya the Deinonychus is behind her, this time. Abby hasn’t seen the Deinonychus in quite a while, but she purrs at attention from  _ anyone _ now, and narrows her eyes in an expression that almost looks to Abby like a  _ grin,  _ of all things.

And Abby wonders. There’s little chance that the young doctor is the mole Cutter is on about, given that she’d arrived later, but she could be untrustworthy in some other way. But then again, she’s sixteen and not particularly good at hiding things, as far as Abby is aware-

This is hard.

Fortunately, the mammoth on the M25 the next week (when Aya is at home, thankfully) takes care of all of those issues and more for her.


	2. firefangs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> telepathy is a neat power, but only if you know how to use it and are willing to invade other people's private space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the joy in writing something primarily for you to read... y'all have no idea how many Ideas i have for this

She can rip open a car like it’s a soda can- or at least it seems that way (it’s really much harder and she just does it to show off because she’s sixteen and that’s what super-powered teenagers  _ do _ )- and she can’t figure out that one of their teammates is a mole.

Shoshannah feels  _ useless. _

“I’m a failure of a telepath,” she growls, and Lester blinks at her, stopping from pacing over the floor.

“Yes, that’s fair. At the very least, you should have  _ noticed _ something was wrong. However, now that you mention it- you need to push that aside, and- you can  _ find _ them.”

Shoshannah sits up, eyes wide, and stares at him.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right, I can- I- at the very least, I can find out what’s goin’ on, I can-” she rushes out the door, and then rushes back in, smacking her face as she goes-

“I can do it from here,” she says, and sits down, and closes her eyes.

Lester’s right there. What’s rolling across his brain is stress and fear and not much else, but there’s a faint thrum of the special kind of fear, the one reserved for friends in danger, that makes her almost smile, because who would have thought it?

Lester  _ does _ care.

Her feelers spread out and out and out, reaching for tendrils she knows to look for. If she wasn’t so familiar with these feelings in particular, she might have needed a magnifier, but she’s not looking at  _ everyone,  _ she’s just looking for-

There’s Stephen, irritated and mildly concerned. She wraps a feeler out against his mind and  _ pushes _ , fast so that she won’t disturb him for long _. _

_ notmuchtimeleftmissingmissingMISSING _

She feels the faint concern morph into more significant concern, feels a tug-back on the feeler, and continues.

_ ‘All missing. Worried. Will let you know when I find them.’ _

There’s a faint reverb-  _ it’s okay, kid _ \- along the other end of the connection, but Shoshannah ignores the feeler and continues to move.

Connor is next. Bright,  _ brilliant _ Connor who feels so strongly about everything, who is like a beacon to her senses. She can feel him relax just a tad, but he’s still too jumpy to form a  _ proper _ response. She moves on to Abby, who’s more likely to be calm and collected and not screaming into her head about everything and anything, because Connor’s head is just as loud as he can be and she needs  _ out. _

_ missingMISSINGwhere _

Abby holds on to the feeler for dear life, fear spiking so hard that without even trying, Shoshannah sees the images in her brain-

“They’ve been stealing creatures,” she says, faintly out of breath, “Not just future predators- they have at least a half-dozen species there, if not more, almost all apex predators in their own environment. Oh, Abby, you’re brilliant, love.”

_ ‘Try to keep yourself as calm as possible, Abby, I’m going to try to find Cutter and Lewis. All lines of communication are still open once I leave, I just might not be back right away.’ _

She moves on.

Jenny’s mind is next, fear spikes fighting for control with her naturally collected and angry appearance. She’s like a puffed-up cat, at the moment. Shoshannah asks.

_ Doyouknowwhere? _

Something astounding happens, even within that original connection. Jenny has a fascinatingly strong mind, and it tugs right back on Shoshannah’s own.

_ ‘No, but I do know that Helen Cutter is here.’ _

It’s the first full response she’s gotten. Shoshannah leans into it.

_ ‘Can you describe your surroundings at all? Unusual birdsong if you’re next to the exit, humidity levels,  _ anything?’

_ ‘No, I’m sorry.’ _

Shoshannah doesn’t realize, in that moment, that, by virtue of speaking to Jenny in that manner, she knows  _ exactly _ where she is.

* * *

Cutter blinks. There’s something in the back of his head, almost, something close enough to-

Ah. There it is.

_ ‘First Jenny actually manages to talk to me, and then you grab at me before I can get a lock on you. Impressive.’ _

Cutter doesn’t know how to reply to that, how to set up the words without them turning into a mess in order to explain-

_ ‘Like that.’ _

_ ‘This work?’ _ he asks quickly, before his attention is grabbed by Helen again.

_ ‘You think you could find out where you all are? I’ve called Stephen to arms already, once we find out where you are I’ll grab my bat and start hitting people.’ _

Cutter blinks again. Location, location. He can do that. He  _ thinks. _ All he really has to do is buy enough time and figure out the location, and then maybe a plan will spring into place (courtesy of Lester, of course, he doubts the young doctor could plan to save her life-

_ ‘Hey! I heard that!’ _

Considering the plan in place was ‘hit people over the head with a bat’)

_ ‘It’s a perfectly workable plan! Now, I think I have to go back and make sure Connor doesn’t have a minor panic attack, I just barely brushed over him the first time around.’ _

_ ‘Alright, I’ll try to find out where we are, you calm down Connor.’ _

Helen is looking at him strangely, and he schools his expression back into a soft glare, or at least something mildly irritable or frightened.

_ ‘Just stall for time. Just stall for time. Once they find you, all they’ll need is time.’ _

* * *

Stephen is driving. Shoshannah sits to his left, fiddling with the tape wrapped around her hands so they don’t blister when she uses the heavy metal bat that currently rests against her legs.

“Do you even know where they are?” Stephen asks.

“Cutter’s working on that, but right now- North? In the general direction of north, at least.”

“You know where they are?”

“No? Yes? No?” she says, and Stephen looks over at the kid incredulously. She sighs, and slams her head back against the seat.

“I’m not sure. It’s less specific, more a general feeling. It’s- it’s a bit like a homing beacon?” she tries to explain, and Stephen nods, though he’s not particularly sure where this is going or how this is helpful.

“So, I think- they’re all in the same location, because that beacon’s much stronger than the one just for you or Lester.”

Stephen turns his eyes back to the road.

“So, you can find any of us?”

“Not really? I don’t know? Mum is better at this than I am- tracking, that is. Give me scent, outdoors, and let me use my paws and not my feet any day and I’ll do fine- hell, let me shift a vulture and I’ll do just as well- but mind-based tracking has never been my specialty. But there’s nobody else who can do it, so I’ll have to do.”

“That seems to be the theme with you,” Stephen replies, and Shoshannah full-body laughs, curling up into a ball and giggling up until she snaps at him to  _ turn right, damnit _ , and the happy atmosphere vanishes like fog in the sun.

She’s a sweet kid, Stephen thinks, but she’s going to have to drop that eventually if she’s going to survive all of this for very long.

“Maybe not,” she replies, “Never need to stop having enthusiasm, I just need to start actually checking people that are in the same general vicinity as me.”

“You are going to be  _ riddled _ with trust issues before long,” Stephen replies, and Shoshannah hums in agreement.

“Yeah, probably. But hey, even with the- even with the Helen ‘thing’, you’re still showing up, you know? So kind of the only black mark against me is Leek.”

“Oh, shut it, you’re the telepath here, now use that ability and be  _ useful, _ we don’t have any birds for you to argue with right now.”

“Right. Yeah. Okay. Ah- so. You, right here- Lester, north, everyone else, north. Sorry, I’m trying to focus on the cluster- Yeah. I’ve sort of got it? Head northeast.”

Stephen blinks at her.

“Any more specific directions?”

“I’m not a catch-all, Hart. I can tell you directions based on straight lines, I can’t-”

She freezes.

“We need to go faster. They’re-”

Stephen doesn’t give her time to finish. They’re breezing past everyone else on the motorway soon enough. Fortunately, it seems that after the elephant-on-the-M25 business, people have decided to avoid this particular motorway for just a little while, and Shoshannah gives out hissed directions as she starts to worry at the tape on her hands. They hear faint curses on the way- or, at least, Stephen does, though he’s not sure if that’s the extra sensory boost his mutation gives him ot not- and Shoshannah continues to grow more and more panicked, and fiddles with the handle of her bat.

“Alright, we’re getting close- Stephen, take a left NOW-”

They’re at the doors, and through, and Shoshannah is making  _ very _ good use of that bat of hers.

* * *

There’s a squeaking sound, or at least that’s what Stephen hears, and then they’ve got backup. Very large, very affectionate-seeming backup, with a thick coat of shining multicolored feathers that he  _ knows _ Shoshannah can’t see the colors of, because she gives him a strange look once the raptor calms down.

“He’s an Achillobator, in case you were wondering, but Stephen, you can see ultraviolet?” she asks, and Stephen nods. Shoshannah’s nose scrunches up, and she cocks her head to the side.

“Can you see infrared?” and unfortunately, he can’t.

“I  _ can _ hear infra _ sound _ , but no, I can’t see infrared.”

“Oh, that’s great, though. How good is your hearing otherwise?”

“Very.”

“Excellent, now let’s get a move on and try to find our teammates, shall we?”

Stephen holds out a hand to stop her as soon as she tries to start moving.

“Quiet.”

She shuts up, thankfully. He can still hear her rabbit-fast heartbeat, but he can hear the raptor’s heartbeat, too, and the clicking.

Oh, god. The  _ clicking. _

_ ‘Future predator,’ _ he thinks extra-loudly, in hopes that she’ll hear. She certainly does- the wince is full-body, and Stephen wonders if it sounded to her like yelling.

She picks up a can of  _ something _ on the ground, and throws it hard at one of the desks full of equipment. It crashes, loudly, and the raptor leads them onwards. They’re joined by another raptor- this one not iridescent, but instead a warm grey barred with white.

“No more clicking,” Stephen whispers, and she nods. He knows her hearing is good- not as good as his, he’s never met a single other person who has ears as sharp as his own- but enough that the sound of gunfire clearly bothers her.

“We’re getting closer,” she replies, “I can feel them.”

“You can?” he asks. She nods. Stephen lifts his nose to the air- the nose that’s better than any human nose- and agrees. He can smell Jenny’s perfume and Connor’s favorite snack blends all the way from over here.

* * *

Cutter freezes as the thunking sound in the hallway. There’s one, two, three, a groan. The future predator snarls.

“Since when did you learn how to wield a bat?”

“Since I figured that guns were too loud for our delicate ears, now shut up while I kick this door down."

She does, indeed, kick the door down, and the Future Predator gets a raptor to the face. Cutter stares, and the young doctor grins, metal bat in hand.

“Let’s go find the rest of our team, yeah?”

“Stephen’s already gone,” is what comes out of his mouth instead. Shoshannah looks around, and curses. Hard.

“He must have decided to go looking for them himself- now  _ come on, _ Cutter, we might not have much time-”

One of the raptors wails, and Shoshannah freezes.

“We don’t have much time at all- come on, loves, we can shut the door after you, just  _ move _ -” and the raptors do, follow her voice and lunge out of the door, breathing hard, eyes wide. Cutter begins to make his way down the hallway, gun raised, while Shoshannah makes shushing sounds and soothes the animals, brushing down raised feathers and speaking to them like she would a dog or some other small animal.

“They’re three, four hundred kilo adults, why are you speaking to them like they’re small dogs?” Cutter hisses.

“Because they’re frightened,” Shoshannah replies, “Everything gets frightened, sometimes. Even the biggest of dinosaurs, or the sharpest of predators- all of them have something that scares them, and we’re going to need this pair’s help.”

That’s an acceptable answer. For now. Cutter goes on ahead, not hearing the frantic cries of Shoshannah for him to  _ wait just one second  _ once he’s gotten out of range.

* * *

“Nick and the others are dead,” Helen says solemnly from the other side of the line, and Stephen snorts.

“They’re most certainly not, I know they’re here, I’ve been following them. I  _ just _ heard Abby less than a minute ago.”

“Oh, you are so sharp, Stephen, but you must be hearing things, I saw it with my own eyes.”

There’s panic, again, and Stephen does something he really hadn’t expected to do for quite the time.

He reaches out, in the back of his head, reaches out in mild desperation just to know that at least someone’s safe, and gets a quiet, warm reply, a gentle  _ ‘she’s lying, i feel them’ _ from the kid.

He hangs up.

Something light and fast and soft brushes past him, and the warm grey raptor sizes him up, quietly.

“I lost track of Cutter, but he’s still alive. Scared out of his mind, but  _ alive. _ ”

That’s what’s valued, here- he can see it in the corners of her eyes. They’re alive. Trauma can be dealt with, but they’re  _ alive. _

“Now let’s get moving before these idiots manage to change that, huh?” she asks, and grins at him.

Her teeth are sharp, and her eyes are wolf-gold and feral. Her bat has gore on the end of it, from where she’s hit someone or something.

The next door they bust through, they find Helen.

“I-  _ Stephen- _ ” she breathes, and narrows her eyes at the young doctor.

“Hi, my name is Shoshannah, call me Shosh or Azose, and the raptors are with me,” she says chipperly, “They like baby-talk, by the way, I think they’re a bit traumatized, though- they’re very sweet once you make the effort to get to know them.”

To illustrate this point, the iridescent raptor wiggles excitedly at chin scratches, and whines unnervingly when the hand moves away.

“Now, I’ve mostly just been hitting people with my bat. Uh, I might have- shit, never mind. Stephen, the others are out, but Cutter- Blonde Cutter, sorry ma’am- got himself into trouble again-”

The raptors lift their heads in unison and hiss.

“Alright, let’s get  _ moving, moving, moving, _ ” she growls, and it’s half in Stephen’s head and half not, and they follow her, before she freezes again.

“He got himself out of there, now we all need to get ourselves out of  _ here _ -”

“Do you have some sort of communications device?” Helen asks curiously.

“You mean my brain? I’m a telepath,” Shoshannah replies distractedly.

Helen looks very,  _ very _ concerned at that little tidbit, but doesn’t say anything.

* * *

“The siren,” Helen repeats, and Shoshannah shares a concerned look with Stephen. She doesn’t know whether or not that’s a good idea, but it’s the only idea they’ve got, and if-

“You two know that you’re going to have to avoid the food sound if you all want to get out of here alive, yeah?” she asks the raptors.

_ “Avoid… food… sound?” _ the iridescent one asks, and she nods.

“Yeah, there’s not going to be food.”

_ “Why not?” _

“Because we have to use it to distract everyone else. If they go to where they think there will be food, it will let us escape.”

_ “Oh. So bait.” _

“Yes. Bait.”

“Excuse me, are you talking to the raptors?” Helen asks as they run.

“Yeah, that’s- alright, so I’m basically a Swiss Army Knife of powers, except most of them are dull from underuse. I’ve got a few I excel at, but most of ‘em- most of ‘em I don’t use enough to get good at them. There’s a few things I can do, I’m still in training whenever I have time for a lot of ‘em, but I- I don’t have  _ time _ for most of them, so I operate mostly on instinct and just shove as much energy as I have into whatever I need to do at the moment.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Stephen mutters, and Shoshannah full-body shrugs, using the bat like an extra arm and waving it up in the air for emphasis. 

Cutter sounds the alarm. It isn’t actually that loud, and the raptors shake their heads and whine, but understand when Shoshannah snaps at them that  _ there’s no food now if you follow like good little birds you’ll get extra food like good little birds- _

And the door can’t be locked from the outside.

Shoshannah ignores the  _ aren’t you forgetting something? _ Feeling that’s pushing at the back of her head, and stares in horror at the door. One of the raptors has already made their escape, racing down the hallway.

And Cutter tries to get through the door. And then it’s Stephen.

Stephen the tracker. Stephen the only other mutant on the team, Stephen, the man who’s taken so long to warm up to her that the idea of losing him now  _ hurts _ like an ache.

Shoshannah makes a split-second decision that’s probably tied for one of the most stupid she’s made in her entire life, and slips through the door to join him.

“I can find us another way out,” she chokes quietly, “Just trust me, alright? I’m going to need you to trust me, just once.”

She can’t deal with the mounting horror on Cutter’s face.

So she doesn’t look.

_ ‘There are a thousand different ways this could go wrong,’ _ she thinks,  _ ‘So why does this feel like the only option? You’re a half-powered moondancer, you CAN’T DO THIS, you’re physically incapable of doing this-’ _

She casts her eyes around, and drags Stephen up to the tops of the yellow cage fencing. That’s the first step.

Then, it’s a question of going higher. There’s no way to do that, not in here.

So, that leaves her with a few options.

The first, and most obvious option, is to fight her way out. Shoshannah grips her bloodstained bat with one hand, and Stephen’s shirt in the other, and decides that’s probably a bad choice.

The second option is to try to Enforce the menagerie below them- and above them, she can  _ hear _ the clicking noise of the future predators. But she’s never been the most sharp of Moondancers, and she can’t Enforce the thoughts of something that can’t think for itself.

“So that leaves bluffing as something bigger,” she says, and  _ shifts. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's tired and wired at the same time? yours truly
> 
> also I WILL be calling shosh a rusted swiss army knife at least a half-dozen times over the course of this story
> 
> Fun fact: her mother, Rebecca, could have located them and teleported to their location within like, five minutes.


	3. the bluff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's not really a bluff, now is it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just as a fair warning: there's a minor description of a character losing a limb in this chapter

Stephen stares in shock and horror at the sixteen year old who stands right next to him, eyes blazing furiously.

“So that leaves bluffing as something bigger,” she says, and he stares as her bones creak and change in length, reshuffling themselves. Her snout grows scales and her skull grows horns and her eyes grow cruel and her claws grow sharp, and the most notable of all of these things is the way that it all happens in only a moment.

They climb. They climb so  _ high _ , and the future predators ignore the immense, winding shape that climbs higher and higher, slips through places they can’t quite reach. Stephen hangs on for dear life, but the feathers are hard to grasp and Shoshannah flinches and he falls anyways. He falls, and he doesn’t remember much after that- beyond pain, that is.

* * *

Stephen slips. If he hadn’t, maybe her claws wouldn’t have dug in like they did, maybe he wouldn’t have been such an inviting target to the congregating future predators, maybe there wouldn’t have been a grapple of claws over his half-conscious body, maybe there wouldn’t have been a screech of pain and then nothing, maybe she wouldn’t have had to roar and scream and spit fire until everything in front of her was gone.

One of his legs, severed just below the knee.

She knows Cutter saw, knows he saw what that shape she was in can do (bone-breaker, she thinks, mountain-claws, sheep-stealer), saw the fire and the anger and the way she’d just gone  _ limp _ afterwards -

* * *

He’s fine. He adapts. Stephen always does. It’s not the same- it won’t ever be the same- but he’s not some stereotype of a pitiable wretch. He lives. It’s what he does. He can still do the job he loves, just  _ altered _ . Stephen realizes, early on, that every structure in the ARC has been altered around it, too, at least a little- or that he’d never noticed, and it had always been that way.

“It’s the latter,” Lester replies, and Stephen realizes he’s said that out loud, “You’re not the only member of the team using crutches, after all, and certainly not the only one who needs a mobility aid of any kind, and you’ll be back up with a state-of-the-art prosthetic before long.”

“I just feel… useless right now,” he replies, and when stared down by Lester, breaks, “I- you know me, my whole identity in this team is based around being the one holding the weapon, being the tracker, being out in the field. I can’t just sit up here, and wait, but I- I feel unimportant, now.”

“I sit up here,” Lester replies, “And I am still an active member of the team. You can give advice, even if you’re not still out in the field, like you’ve already adjusted to giving. You help us train the new recruits in proper handling of tranquilizers- something Abby  _ does not have time to do _ \- and even though you may not physically be there, your tracking expertise is vital for those who are out there. And you’re scheduled for a fitting soon, yes?”

“I am. But I don’t think I’ll be able to do the same job I did before.”

“No, you’ll be part of the scientists, now, and only that. If you’re interested in a doctorate, I’d suggest working on one- you’ll have the time, now, at least. Have you received your temporary prosthetic yet?”

“No, that’s tomorrow.”

“Good, good. We’ll try to accommodate you as best we can, Stephen. We’re funded well enough, if you need anything, just  _ ask. _ ”

“I think it would be a bit awkward to ask to move in with anyone here.”

“You live alone, yes. Have you considered asking Temple and Maitland?”

“Already living together and their flat has a lot of stairs.”

“Azose?”

“Lives with her mother and the Deinonychus, plus a half-dozen or more birds. No room.”

“And I have too many stairs as well-” Lester hisses under his breath, “damn architects for not following regulations. If stairs aren't a deal-breaker, I'd be happy to let you stay at mine until you can come to an agreement with someone, if they are, I'd suggest speaking with Cutter.”

“I don't think that's a good idea.”

“Try it, Stephen. And why do you need to move in with someone?” he asks- “You won't receive any judgement from me, of course.”

“It's the memories. I could  _ function _ perfectly well on my own, but-”

“But you need to have someone there to snap you out of them if they're too much,” Lester cuts in, “And you need somewhere that is unfamiliar enough that you won't associate it with pre-injury you, which means it can't be Cutter’s.”

“Stairs aren't a deal-breaker.”

“Good, I'll get someone to move your things. I do hope you're alright with children, I may ask you to baby-sit, but you seem fine with the young doctor, and that's certainly not much different.”

Stephen braces himself for a thousand questions about his missing leg, but Lester’s children are actually surprisingly rather polite about it. Or unsurprisingly? They are children, but they're  _ Lester’s _ children, so maybe that has something to do with it.

* * *

“Are you alright?” is the first question that everyone seems to ask when Stephen’s back in full. Everyone except Connor, of course, who grins and asks him specific questions about how the new prosthetic is working. Stephen rolls his eyes (and rolls  _ up _ his pant leg) to show it off a little bit.

“It's working well, although it takes a bit of time to get used to it, and with the enhanced sense of touch, it can be a bit much sometimes.”

He's open about his mutation now, which is nice. It makes three mutants on the team- Lester himself has a minor telekinetic ability, something he's learned is very useful for dealing with the man’s three children (all of whom find  _ Stephen’s _ mutation to be  _ very _ interesting, since the only mutant between them is another telekinetic), and of course, there is the rusted Swiss Army Knife herself.

“Whatever you need,” said other mutant says quietly, “Just ask. We’d all happily drop everything to help you out, any time.”

“Just keep that for the long haul, yeah?” he asks, “This isn't going away, ever. I don't need temporary heroes, I might need permanent helpers, though. And don't yell at me if I'm not on the top of my game.”

“Stephen, if you think we’re going to drop you because you lost a leg and we might ‘find it annoying’, you really need to rethink what you think of us. We care about you, and when we say ‘whatever you need’, we  _ mean _ it,” Abby says, sliding over the desk. Stephen casts his eyes around, and sees several more people nodding.

“Alright, but don't be surprised when I call those favors in.”

* * *

“A lot of people are skeptical when they first join us, Becker, they don't stay that way for long,” Lester says, before he's so  _ rudely _ interrupted-

“Oh, hey, Lester, is this the new guy?” Shoshannah asks, practically bouncing down the hallway. There's a quiet screech behind her, and a dart of blue, and Lester grins.

“Excellent. Captain Becker, this is Doctor Azose, part of the anomaly team- one of our animal handlers, the other being Abby Maitland.”

“And this is Aya,” Shoshannah chirps, lifting up the seventy kilogram Deinonychus, who chirps amusedly at her predicament. Becker blinks, several times, before hesitantly reaching a hand out to pet the raptor.

“Oh, she's the friendly one, don't worry, she won't bite unless we ask her to,” the young doctor hums, and Becker runs his fingers through the soft feathers, and Lester shoots Shoshannah a look.

“Hey, I figured you might be getting some lip from the new team member,” Shoshannah hums good-naturedly, “Speaking of, I answer to ‘Shoshannah’ or ‘Shosh’ or ‘Azose’, the second one gets used the most, don't feel the need to address me as Doctor or anything, and most members of the team will answer to their first names over anything else, with the exception of Cutter, who we  _ only _ call Cutter or Professor Cutter.”

“That's a dinosaur,” Becker says weakly, “That’s- that’s a-”

“She's a Deinonychus, specifically a subadult female,” Shoshannah replies, “And she's mostly fluff.”

“Thank you for cutting in, by the way, I was afraid he'd have to learn on the job, but if you won't mind, I'd like to continue the brief?”

“Sure, Lester. How are the kids, by the way?”

“They're doing well.”

“Good! Have a nice day, hope you don't have to deal with anything too gory, I’m heading home!”

“You're not permitted to slam anything over the head with a baseball bat, not after what happened last time!” he shouts back down the hallway.

“She seems awfully young,” Becker hums, before Lester cuts him off.

“She is. They all are, but she's the youngest. I'm considering hiring a psychiatric specialist for the entire team, you'd be surprised how traumatic working with animals can be,” he says, and continues the tour, the threatening, and the warning about Cutter.

* * *

“Cutter?” Stephen asks, and waves a hand over the man’s face. Cutter blinks, and stares, unfocused, up at him.

“Don’t you ever go home?” he continues. Cutter’s eyes move to his leg, which Stephen slides under the desk instead, out of view.

“You can’t keep blaming yourself for this. Nobody should. It was my choice to step through that door.”

“And it was Helen who put you into that situation in the first place.”   
“Then why are you blaming yourself?” Stephen asks, “Blame me, hell, blame Shoshannah for stepping through there with me, but neither of us died, and it was never your fault to begin with.”

“You are permanently  _ maimed _ because-”

“Oh, do  _ not _ make  _ my _ disability about  _ you, _ Cutter,” Stephen growls, “But really. We  _ need _ you to stop blaming yourself. I don’t want to be forced into the same kind of screaming match that I had with Azose.”

“I should have stopped her. That’s my job.”

“That’s the job of everyone here, Cutter,” he grumbles, and steps aside as Jenny slides into the room, a bright smile on her face.

“You going to go for a hike this weekend?” she asks, “Abby and Connor were asking if they could tag along.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” he says, “But if they’re coming just to come along, if you see them before I do, could you please tell them they’re welcome to come?”

He’s barely out the door before he hears the blaring of the anomaly alarm. His phone’s in his hand in a split second.

“You’ve got Abby and Connor?” he asks Cutter, who nods.

It takes only a single ring before Shoshannah is on the other end of the line.

“Don’t expect my usual state of overdress, but I’ll be there in a bit, yeah?” she replies, and hangs up. There’s a shout from somewhere else, and Stephen settles himself in for a  _ long _ morning.

* * *

“So do as he says, unless I think he’s wrong,” Cutter hums, before narrowing his eyes, concerned.

“Shouldn’t she be here by now?” he mutters to Stephen, who rocks back and forwards, before whipping out his phone again.

“Shouldn’t take too long, apparently one of the bigger raptors in the Menagerie threw a fit so she has to detour. She’ll be here in half an hour or so.”

They go in anyways. The dead body on the floor is concerning, to say the least- it means that something’s gotten through, at least once.

The museum is quiet. Cutter’s ire rises every minute that they walk through it- it’s unsettling, really, to say the least, and they don’t have their usual stress reliever with them at the moment.

Cutter is no telepath, but even he can practically  _ taste _ the uncertainty oozing off his team in this confined space, with nowhere to run. He watches as Stephen taps his living foot in a familiar pattern, and watches as the man’s hands shake faintly. He doesn’t like this confined space either- it reminds him just as much of the complex as it reminds Cutter of that godforsaken place.

“Stay where you are,” he growls at the person who enters the door. For a moment, his hopes are up- if it’s Shoshannah, at the very least they have someone who could theoretically fight whatever it was that killed that poor woman in the exhibit. It’s clearly not her, though, and he bites back a frustrated growl half on instinct.

“It’s alright,” he says instead, “Now who are you?”

She stutters out a frantic Doctor Page, and Cutter knows that this one’s going to be a fidgety one. And sure enough, she runs.

There’s a familiar yelp, though, and that’s enough to lift spirits just a little bit. Well, that, and the reassuring-

_ ‘Hello, has everyone been doing alright without me?’ _

It’s half-teasing, and it’s clearly meant to open up a team communication of sorts, because Cutter can hear Connor when he replies  _ ‘Yeah’ _ and Stephen when he replies  _ ‘Connor is a liar, he's afraid of museums’ _ and Abby when she replies  _ ‘We found a dead body, something got through.’ _

_ ‘Did you take care of Doctor Page?’ _ Cutter asks instead, and at the confused reaction he gets, he’s going to assume no.

There’s a scream, and all of a sudden, there’s a very tired-looking Doctor Azose (though, she always looks tired, so what else is new) running next to them in an oversized jumper.

“Hello, sorry, I heard screaming and yelling, what do we think is going on?” she asks, and fiddles with the sleeves of the jumper, which her hands are drowning in.

“Yelling? I only heard the screaming,” Becker mutters, and Shoshannah nods, before looking Cutter directly in the eye.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“That this museum is screaming crocodilian? Yes.”

“Absolutely,” Shoshannah replies, and picks up her pace. Out of the corner of his eye, Cutter can see Stephen lagging behind slightly with one of the new recruits, checking him over curiously. Shoshannah scrunches her face up as they enter the room.

“It was Ammut,” Doctor Page says, and Shoshannah blinks, and grins.

“Oh! Crocodilian! Cutter, your guess was right!”

“It was?” he asks, before almost everyone is out the door and running after whatever just left, himself included.

* * *

Stephen hangs back (for some reason, but she’s pretty sure it has something to do with keeping trustworthy eyes on Connor), but Shoshannah can still feel his advice through the back of her head, and passes it on to Abby, who executes it as best she can. But they’re losing ground, and Stephen’s getting more and more frustrated, because as it turns out-

“Half of his advice is looking and listening and smelling for things we can’t see, hear, or smell,” Shoshannah says, “And- wait, what are you doing?”

“Calling Connor.”

“Eocene epoch, crocodilian, partial biped-”

“How do you know it’s a crocodilian?” sounds from over the phone, before they’re headed south and Becker’s on his way to meet them.

_ ‘Action man, huh?’ _ Shoshannah teases, and Connor makes an almost hiss-like thought that he pushes towards her.

“Let’s keep moving,” she says out loud, and tries to triangulate the sound like Stephen would. She hears his advice, and pays it heed, but it seems there’s no need for much of it at all- they find the body of whoever it was just fine without any of Stephen’s hearing tricks.

_ ‘The river,’ _ Stephen pushes towards all of them, and they listen. Becker seems a bit confused, but Shoshannah drags him along just fine.

The creature is in earshot- maybe. Shoshannah knows well enough that crocodiles don’t hear the same way dinosaurs do, but she’s desperate, and so-

“Oi! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

It gets its  _ attention _ , at the least, but the crocodile snorts and continues on.

“Pristichampsus,” Cutter says, after discussing with Connor for a moment, “It’s a Pristichampsus.”

“Is anyone going to comment on the fact that she just yelled at the biggest crocodile I have ever seen in my entire life?”

“Please, we all know that’s the  _ only _ wild crocodile you’ve ever seen,” Shoshannah replies, half-grinning, and she thinks that this Captain Becker might fit in well with them, after all.

“So that was a- what did you call it?”

“A Pristichampsus, though the fossil record on crocodylomorphs can be so sparse at times that it could be a completely undiscovered species we’ve never heard of, that just looks and acts quite a bit like a Pristichampsus.”

“Though it can’t be a Boverisuchus, no hooves.”

“That’s not particularly reassuring, Shoshannah. Also not reassuring is the fact that apparently-”

“Oh, that’s not very surprising, actually, I can speak with them but that doesn’t guarantee that they’ll  _ listen _ if they’ve got enough self-importance stocked up. Anyone can be reasoned with, after all, but once you give someone a god complex…”

“You’ve argued with a full-grown  _ Allosaurus _ before, and it’s the snooty cousin that gives you trouble.”

“Well, let’s make one thing clear: crocodylomorphs are  _ usually _ quite easy to reason with, even the big ones. This one in particular is just, as you said, rather snooty.”

“Of all the crocodilians,” Abby says, “We have to deal with the stuck-up bastard.”

* * *

Lester feels the concern ghost over the back of his head, the quiet  _ ‘are you alright?’ _ feeling that comes from several corners now, not just one. He chokes back a frustrated laugh, and ramps down anything that might have broadcasted towards their local telepath.

No reason to distract them from doing their jobs, after all.

* * *

Stephen jumps up as soon as the crocodilian shoves its ugly snout through the anomaly.

They're out of bullets.

Well. Not quite, but nobody else is in position, and so he hands some piece of equipment to Conor and they both  _ shove  _ and-

“That's never happened before,” Stephen says breathlessly, while Connor launches into an explanation, or at least what he tries to construct into an explanation. Stephen realizes, with a jolt, that his leg isn’t being pulled towards the anomaly any longer.

“Connor,” he says, “The magnetic pull’s stopped.”

Stephen can feel a stupid, stupid grin creeping onto his face.

“It’s the electric current,” Connor says, “The electric current must have done something to it-”

And the anomaly shifts, again, the multifaceted breathing glass ball shattering into a thousand tiny pieces once more, and Stephen growls in frustration while Connor grows more frantic.

“Do they know?” Connor asks him, voice barely above a whisper, as he brushes past. Stephen reaches out back across the link and pushes the images towards them, getting shock in response.

“Yeah, they know,” he replies, “But they need us to keep watch, it’s not going well on their end.”

* * *

Stephen’s right. It’s  _ definitely _ not going well on their end.

She really only needs to follow the sound of screaming to get an idea of where the creature’s gone, but no matter how quickly they move, they always seem five steps behind or more. Negotiating won’t work, not with this thing-

Shoshannah holds back a growl at herself. This has to work, it has to.

She follows the creature right over the ledge, feet-turned-talons skidding across the concrete. She’s worked with ospreys before- she might not be able to change into creatures she’s not familiar with, and she might not be able to talk this one down, but she’s not  _ useless _ .

“Bow down,” the doctor says, and it makes so much  _ sense. _

“You are harmed,” Shoshannah whispers, “We will not keep you from your home.”

The crocodilian snorts.

_ “Like you could keep me from anything, shape-changer,” _ it snorts, but heads back into the anomaly anyways. Doctor Page looks at her strangely, and Shoshannah sighs.

* * *

“That’s the first one that hasn’t listened to a reasonable argument,” she says, out of breath, “Not exactly a good first impression, yeah?”

“A bit tricky to know that even our archosaurian lucky charm doesn’t work all the time,” Lester jokes, “But I do believe you have a pair of large raptors that require tending to.”

Shoshannah takes the out, and grits her teeth as she makes her way to the menagerie.

She won’t be caught off guard like this, not again, is what she promises herself, but promises aren’t always able to be kept.

* * *

“You know,” Doctor Page says, “I wasn’t expecting any of this.”

“I wasn’t either,” Becker replies, mildly concerned but hiding it (he thinks) well, “Although I did have the benefit of meeting one of the smaller animals they have in the Menagerie before this morning’s events.”

“Speaking of, what was it with the youngest doctor- Azose, yeah?- and trying to talk to the creature? It almost seemed like it  _ responded. _ ”

“Yeah, they mentioned something about her arguing with dinosaurs before then, as well,” Becker hums, before his eyebrows rise.

“Hey, STEPHEN! The Fluff Brigade has arrived!” Shoshannah yells across the room, and two massive raptors slink out from behind her, covered from nose to tail-tip in a thick coat of feathers.

There’s a yelp from somewhere (Becker idly realizes that the yelp is from himself and Sarah), but the raptors are perfectly docile and seem to enjoy chin-scratches. He watches in the corner of his eye as Doctor Page approaches hesitantly, but hangs back himself. He sees the size of the claws on those feet. He’s not getting anywhere  _ near _ them.

Shoshannah sits down, a grin on her face, and the raptors plop themselves right down beside her.

“We’re going to see if we can get them to assist in finding creatures that have escaped before we’ve arrived,” she explains, “So we’ve been getting them used to the team as a whole, so they know that humans are friends, not food- and, speaking of food, Cutter, since when is alcohol allowed on site?” she asks, pointing at the beer in his hands. Cutter throws said hands up.

“Why are you asking? You’re not old enough to drink.”

Becker stares, slack-jawed, at the doctor.

“How old are you, exactly?” Doctor Page asks weakly, the same question that’s been running through Becker’s head.

“I turned seventeen last month.”

Becker thinks that makes a surprising amount of sense, considering her personality. He’d thought her immature- not surprising, considering the rest of the group- and she  _ is _ , but-

“Don’t worry, you’re not the first one to think I’m older than I am. Now, I do believe these two have had enough socialization for the moment, I’ll walk them back to the Menagerie.”

The raptors follow behind her obediently, like there’s absolutely nothing better for either of them to do, which  _ fascinates _ Becker now that he’s seen what a truly angry prehistoric animal can do.

She’s back in the main area before long, spinning something glowing between her hands. Cutter hands the beer off to Doctor Page, and Becker looks up so that none of them will see his smile.

Stephen Hart clearly sees it anyways, claps him on the back, and tells him he’ll get used to it.

Becker will just have to trust him on that.

There’s a yelp and the excitement grows, and there’s a purr of contentment, and something new snaps into place like it’s always supposed to have been there.

_ ‘I do hope you don’t mind, it took ages for most of the team to be alright with this.’ _

Becker just grins and pushes back-

_ ‘You think  _ I _ would have a problem with that?’ _

Shoshannah Azose, despite what she may think, is  _ not _ the only telepath on their team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stephen is alive! also, if anyone who reads this has any recommendations on more accurately writing a character with a prosthesis, I'd love to hear them!


	4. sharp teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> team bonding + becker's the annoying older brother trope to a T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoa! chapter to chapter within a day!

There’s a new alarm in the morning. Shoshannah rolls over and groans, stuffing her head into the pillows- although that’s not going to do much to block it out, because the alarm is screeching  _ in her head _ because she’s not the only telepath on the team anymore and Becker thinks it’s funny to make her hear what she hears-

(it is useful, though- she’s learning quite a bit from the older telepath, things she hasn’t had time to learn from her mother, like strengthening her shields so that not even other telepaths can get through them, like actually being able to pinpoint locations, and how to be more gentle when calming others down)

(Shoshannah’s mother jokes that Becker’s three younger sisters have given him plenty of experience in the teaching department)

_ ‘You need to get up,’ _ Becker pushes, and Shoshannah grumbles, but doesn’t kick up much of a fuss beyond that. She knows how lucky she is to have another telepath on the team willing to teach her.

_ ‘I’m up, I’m UP,’ _ she shouts back at him, buttoning up her vest and straightening her tie and tucking it into said vest, before running out the door, last night’s leftovers in hand, and pulling out her phone.

_ I’ll be there in a few. _

She only barely makes it in time, breathing hard and staring, blank-eyed, at the new security measures.

“Right. These are a thing. Yeah, I-”

She pulls out her ID, and walks right on through, and nearly slams directly into Lester, who’s holding onto a cup of cheap coffee like it’s the secrets of the universe.   
“Really?” she asks, and gets a ‘never tell anyone you saw this’ grumbled in reply.

Right. Good day, maybe. She can get used to this.

* * *

The simple fact of the matter is that Jenny Lewis has gotten surprisingly used to having super-powered people around.

She hadn’t really known what to expect, at first- well, she’d known about Lester, there’s that, but there’s a difference between knowing about Lester and meeting a sixteen year old who can talk to birds, finding out a member of your team has had enhanced senses- all enhanced senses- ever since the start, and adding a telepath and a pyrokinetic to their roster.

Jenny  _ does _ think it’s strange, that the  _ archaeologist _ is a pyrokinetic, but she’s not going to question it if she doesn’t have to.

She doesn’t  _ ignore _ the fact that nobody ever needs to go get a ladder, or that Pearl and Cinnamon are docile giants instead of murdering machines, or when Aya darts through the ARC without a care in the world in her little blue head. But she doesn’t throw up much of a fuss about it.

She seems to be the only one.

The five mutants (and counting) seem  _ fascinated _ by one another. Becker and Shoshannah are rarely seen apart, now, having warmed up to each other the second they recognized a fellow telepath, and Stephen is almost always nipping at Lester’s heels, though that might be more related to the fact that the latter pair live together and Stephen has, if his constant complaining about the subject is evidence to anything, become something of an unofficial babysitter for Lester’s children.

Doctor Page is the only one among them who really hasn’t settled more into the group-within-a-group. Her pyrokinesis doesn’t have an easy replica, aside from possibly Lester’s telekinetic capabilities, but she’s steadily warming up to the rest (hah, warming up, Jenny’s so funny, she’ll tell that one to Sarah later) of them, even without an easy bonding mechanism.

“You know,” Shoshannah says, “I’m pretty sure we haven’t even gotten an alarm.”

“You didn’t.”

“So why did Becker yell at me this morning if we didn’t have anything urgent to deal with? I know we’re four feral peas in a pod, but-”

“Because Becker is an ass.”

“That’s fair. So we’re just supposed to sit here? Discuss how you’re got a pathetic crush on Doctor Page  _ and _ Doctor Cutter ? Discuss Connor and Abby dancing around each other like they’re in the ballet?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to die of boredom, Jenny. On my gravestone, it’s going to say  _ ‘sent to watch for anomalies, died of boredom.’ _ ”

Jenny laughs.

* * *

Shoshannah ignores the pushes in the back of her head from everyone else, and focuses on those in the house with her, instead.

“Fantastic foursome, we are,” she grumbles under her breath, “A sharpshooter, a computer genius, a professional animal handler and a biologist, and we’re sent here to babysit an old house.”

“You make us sound much less amateur than we actually are,” Connor says, before he ventures deeper into the house. Shoshannah sighs, and sniffs, then freezes, and sniffs again.

“Something isn’t right,” she hisses, “Something’s not right, here, something’s not  _ right- _ ”

She begins to pace. It’s something wrong in scent and sound, that much is for sure- she can’t  _ see _ anything amiss. And so, she asks Stephen, like she always does for these sorts of questions and, like he always does (without fail, at that), Stephen answers.

Helpfully, this time. Stephen guides her through the motions, instructs her to close her eyes and steady her breathing, and she hears  _ something _ in the rafters, something that makes every hair on the back of her neck stand up straight.

They’re not alone in this house. Something else is  _ here. _ There are footsteps outside, too, but something with them tells her  _ trust _ , and they’re human footsteps besides, nothing to be worried about besides a possible run in with local law enforcement that can be smoothed over by a quick call to Lester.

No, but this other thing- Shoshannah resists the urge to growl, but she can tell it echoes across her mind, because her mother is there, concerned like she rarely is.

_ ‘Shoshannah,’ _ Professor Rebecca Azose asks, calm and collected like she’s not lecturing students and speaking to her daughter at the same time,  _ ‘Are you alright?’ _

_ ‘Yes, Mum,’ _ Shoshannah replies,  _ ‘Just- there’s something else here, but I can handle it. Trust me, yeah?’ _

Rebecca Azose is a good mother, but very specifically, she’s a  _ protective  _ mother. There’s a spike of worry on the other end, a reaction that usually predates a call to action.

_ ‘I’m going to be fine, Mum,’ _ she insists,  _ ‘I have backup.’ _

_ ‘Good,’ _ her mother replies. Shoshannah barely ramps down the connection before her own adrenalin spikes back up at Abby’s terrified screaming.

* * *

The footsteps have stopped. Someone is waiting outside. But there’s instinct, buried deep down, to trust whoever this is, and so, despite her distrust of small-town police forces, she doesn’t intervene (much) with Constable Quinn’s self-introduction.

“Is there anyone else in there with you?” he asks, and Shoshannah can feel the spike of panic, but rushes out the door anyways.

“Ah, yes, sorry, something in there’s weird and off and I don’t know why Cutter sent us here but he’s  _ definitely right. _ ”

“What do you mean, ‘you people’, anyways?” Connor asks, and Shoshannah’s eyes widen at the spike of grief and anger, before the man spits “Murder tourists.”

“Ah, no, sorry- wait,  _ what _ ?” she asks, and tries to stand her ground, but Jenny’s hands lock around her arm and tug her away.

“There’s something off in that house,” she hisses, “Something  _ wrong. _ ”

And that’s how she gets roped into going wherever Jenny is planning on going, along with Connor, while Abby stays to hold down the fort because she’s the least likely among them to get into a fight with Quinn (In order of likelihood, featuring reasoning, from highest to lowest, it is: Connor (feeling personally victimized), Shoshannah (always ready for a fight and feeling very insulted), Abby (who  _ will _ stay put if asked  _ very _ nicely), and Jenny (who is needed for whatever information she’s planning on gathering)- though that won’t stop any of them if given the chance).

While they’re driving, Shoshannah gets  _ whammied. _

Primarily, it’s Becker-panic, which she soothes, because if there’s one thing she’s got that he doesn’t, it’s the ability to calm people down. However-

_ ‘I know that face’ _ -

Cutter is panicking, and-

_ ‘THAT MAN HAS BEEN  _ DEAD _ FOR  _ OVER A YEAR,  _ WHAT IS GOING ON,’ _

Stephen is also panicking, just in a far more amusing way. She gets reassurance from Becker, that everyone’s alright, that they aren’t dead, that the man has been apprehended-

_ ‘Check for a camera or a wire,’ _ is the only advice she can offer, because she’s  _ met _ Helen, now, and that really does seem like something she would do.

She sinks down further into the seat, breathing shallowly. Jenny and Connor look at her, concerned.

“Someone broke into the ARC- a supposed to be dead man, of all things. It’s fine, we don’t need to go back, Cutter’s suggested we stay and find out the  _ specifics _ of what is going on, here- but I just thought you should know.”

“We need to tell Abby,” Connor says, whipping out his phone, and Shoshannah nods, head against the glass, shaking faintly.

“Thanks, Connor,” she whispers, “You’re a big help.”

She reaches for her mother, in the back of her mind, even though it wracks her with guilt to do so.

* * *

Abby feels the tangled knot of emotions that signals the now not so new telepathic connection in the back of her head. There’s anger and fear, there, for the most part- guilt, shame as well. The usual suspects. She can’t send across a wave of calm and happy the way Shoshannah can, but she can encourage everyone to sound off, to show they’re alive (or, at least, she can push the suggestion through either one of the telepaths and hope they have the patience to act as operator).

_ ‘Here,’  _ she hears Cutter echo.

_ ‘Here,’ _ says Lester, just as faint, as does Stephen, who’s closer to a shouted whisper.

_ ‘Same here,’ _ Sarah hums.

_ ‘I am also alive,’ _ Becker says, and he’s not a faint whisper, he’s at the full ‘volume’ of his normal speech- which makes sense, he’s one of the the two telepaths who fuels this entire endeavor.

_ ‘He’s not the only one,’ _ and that’s Connor-

_ ‘Make that doubled, _ ’ and that’s Jenny-

_ ‘We need to have a discussion about the detective that found us, there is absolutely no way he doesn’t know  _ something.’

And, rounding off the second of the telepaths, that would be Shoshannah, nervous but willing to try to abate their own nervousness.

_ ‘Hey, Shoshannah?’ _ Abby finds herself asking, staring at a little girl in red and her dog,  _ ‘Is there such thing as ghosts?’ _   
She’d expected a long-winded answer, something non-committal either way, something about the soul or the spirit, something Cutter would have told her.

She doesn’t expect the very simple ‘ _ Yes,’ _ though perhaps she should have. It doesn’t make the hairs on the back of her neck lay flat- if anything, it only makes them worse, and she can feel Shoshannah’s apology without it being thought ‘out loud’, but Abby doesn’t care much for that sort of thing.

“If ghosts are real,” she thinks aloud, “Then are you one?”

If the little girl is, she’s the most stereotypical ghost that  _ Abby’s _ ever head of, at least.

* * *

Shoshannah stays in the car. The day is surprisingly nice out, considering they haven’t gone far from where it was thundering just a few minutes ago. Connor seems to be trying something or another, but Shoshannah is more fixed on the man attempting to explain things.

_ ‘Tell them everything,’ _ she pushes, and the man listens, and does. Shoshannah offers Jenny and Connor smiles when they retreat back into the car from the over-eager agent.

“I’m assuming the break from politeness and into strategically valuable oversharing was your doing?” Jenny asks, and Shoshannah nods. She  _ is _ getting better at other sorts of telepath things, after all.

“Did you glean where this Mason character is?” Connor asks, and she shakes her head in reply.

Mason, as turns out, hasn't fared particularly well. He's broken internally beyond belief, and Shoshannah reaches out to him with her feelers, pulses warmth and care along them, the steady heartbeat drum of ‘ _ you are a person, you deserve your dignity.’ _

Mason cries. Hard. Shoshannah sighs, but smiles. It’s the closest thing she’s gotten to actually doing something more classically Moondancer-esque in a long time, and Shoshannah’s struck by how  _ bad _ she is at it.

She’s met some of her second cousins, before- with the exception of Kaleb, most of them are masters at comforting people. Her? She’s a mildly annoying brat who’s good with birds.

* * *

Abby wakes to  _ panic. _

And amusement (from Becker), but primarily panic.

“You alright, Abby?” Shoshannah manages to ask, but she’s fidgety and fussy and her eyes are wide.

“Yeah. I think-”

“You heard something, too.”

Abby blinks.

“Yeah, I did. Something moving around up there. We can call Connor, I guess,” Abby says, then groans and palms her face, “No, we can’t. I knocked his phone out of his pocket while we were in there, and, knowing Connor-”

“It’s still inside. Yeah, he knows.”

Abby cocks her head. She can’t feel the web of people that connect to her own head as well as she normally would- it’s really only Shoshannah and Becker, now.

“I can’t feel them,” she mutters, “I can’t hear them.”

“Now you know a little bit of how I feel with limiters on,” Shoshannah replies jokingly, “But really, most of the network is down intentionally. There was too much shouting, we need to work on something alternative so that everyone can still function properly when some of us are panicking.”

“You mean someone was broadcasting and you needed to shut them up,” Abby replies with a grin. Shoshannah sighs, and nods.

“Yes. Specifically,  _ Stephen _ was broadcasting, very loudly. We’re going to need to have a conversation about mental volume. Since I have telepathic backup, now, it can be a proper intervention.”

Then, the young doctor stiffens, cocks her head, and widens her eyes.

“Well. Two things. One, I’m mostly sure Connor has been arrested- that shut-off is  _ very _ similar to the kind used for anti-telepathy cuffs-” Shoshannah shudders at the words- “And two, my Mum is on her way. I don’t know why, don’t ask me to stop her, and I don’t think she’s angry with any of  _ us- _ ”

There’s another pause.

“Lester’s not very happy, though.”

* * *

Connor knows he’s not going to be able to ask for the wrist-cuff off, but it  _ is _ worrying him. And likely worrying everyone else, though he knows the network is down, so maybe not?

The option is either Lester or Jenny, and he knows Lester will yell his ears off if there’s anything of an issue (but Shoshannah has told him already that the man’s rarely ever  _ really _ angry at them, just frightened  _ for _ them, and Connor takes that to heart).

And so, he calls Jenny.

And worries away at the cuff on his wrist, and stares at the door.

He knows he’s wearing the detective down, at least a little bit. Connor’s not completely socially inept- he can tell when someone has a caring streak a mile wide and as much as this tough-guy look might intimidate someone else, Connor’s met plenty of people with that same kind of attitude, and they all turned out to be secret softies.

Stephen? Caring, gentle with children. Cutter? Soft when dealing with anyone under stress, friendly when he puts his mind to it. Lester, who this man reminds him surprisingly the most of? Overprotective and bristly, but with a great deal of softness beneath when he deals with the team.

Connor will crack this man, no matter how many hours of puppy dog eyes it takes.

* * *

The little girl is not a ghost. That’s not surprising.

The little girl is  _ feeding _ the thing.  _ That’s _ surprising.

The most surprising thing is the way that what she says hits Abby-  _ ‘I have to stop it from being bad,  _ it’s my job _.’ _

That’s not the first time Abby’s heard that sentiment, though perhaps not in those exact words. She hides the hitch of shock in her breath.

“It’s okay, Emily, you can leave that to us, now,” she replies, and mentally adds,  _ ‘Because we’re professionals with people to protect us if things go wrong.’ _

But they don’t right now, do they?

Abby raises a hand to her face as she walks little Emily home, and resists the urge to reach out for Becker’s mind, to ask him to send someone,  _ anyone _ , multiple people if he can, so they  _ don’t have to do this alone- _

She doesn’t want to bother him, and so, she drops the matter. But she can feel an almost familiar mind brushing up against hers, like a shark or a massive catfish in murky water.

That’s  _ not _ Becker. But it’s not an enemy, either, and so, Abby will gladly ignore it for the time being.

* * *

Professor Rebecca Azose is friendly, but also frightening.  _ Very _ frightening. And strangely comforting? Connor offers her a sheepish grin, and goes back to considering why he mildly felt like cheering when everyone else in the area seemed to feel more like cowering.

And then, he remembers.

Shoshannah’s mother- likely another telepath- of  _ course _ she’d be invested in getting everyone else to back down while keeping them (them being Connor, Jenny, and Shoshannah) safe and not traumatized. He’s gotten vague pushes on an empathic level from the younger of the two, but Shoshannah in this arena has absolutely nothing on her mother, who’s somehow managing to both sweet-talk and terrify at the same time (and clearly,  _ some _ people are  _ very _ charmed, judging by the reactions).

_ ‘I’m not a particularly good Moondancer,’ _ Shoshannah tells him, and he can  _ hear _ her because  _ now the cuff’s off and- _

_ ‘Why not?’ _

_ ‘Never had much of the patience for it, maybe. You need nerves of steel and to be calmer than a therapy dog to be able to stand all the manhandling from werewolves- I’m too bouncy, and I get irritated any time I try.’ _

That’s a fair point, he agrees she doesn't really have the patience for that sort of thing.

And then, of course (several hours later though: new record!), it goes mildly to shit, because Abby is in a panic and someone is  _ in the house that they’re  _ definitely _ not supposed to go into- _

Professor Azose (call me Rebecca, she says) blinks once, calmly, and stares at her daughter.

“You’re going to go in after her, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Shoshannah replies, and Rebecca sighs good-naturedly.

“Alright, then. If you’re going to be doing it anyways, might as well have supervision from someone who doesn’t need their eyes to find whatever this is. Make sure Hart is in the backup party, by the way. From what I’ve heard, his ears have no equal.”

* * *

_ ‘Get here soon,’ _ Abby tells nobody in particular, while panic races across her head. She can feel both of the team’s telepaths trying to respond, and shuts them down. Hard.

She can’t spend excess time thinking right now, she needs to-

And the door breaks down. Abby breathes a silent sigh of relief as three familiar faces (and one that’s not quite unfamiliar) enter. The shark-telepath (as Abby has been calling them in her head) is back, and from the association, it’s clearly the tall woman with the sharp eyes that looks surprisingly like Shoshannah.

“Ah. Abby, this is my mother, Professor Rebecca Azose. Mum, this is Abby Maitland.”

“Call me Rebecca,” she says, as they make their way up the stairs.

* * *

_ ‘Be calm,’ _ Rebecca pushes at the man currently standing in the bathtub,  _ ‘You know we are not the enemy, here.’ _

He doesn’t listen. He runs and he screams and he  _ attracts attention, _ but worst of all, he  _ falls. _ If he hadn’t, or if he’d gotten caught in the railing and had just slipped, then perhaps they could have saved him. But from the sickening  _ snap _ and the way the blood just… doesn’t act like even half-living blood would, Rebecca knows half on instinct that the man was dead when he hit the ground.

And then, the constable races his way in, a swirling ball of grief and anger and… protectiveness? Good to know.

_ ‘Close your eyes and LISTEN,’ _ she pushes at him. She can see his confusion, and it’s a momentary slip that nearly gets him disemboweled by the creature like it was planning to do to the man at the bottom of the stairwell. There’s a yell, right by her ear, about the anomaly (and that  _ hurts _ , right after the fired shot, too).

The creature stares. The creature moves.

The creature has second thoughts.

Danny Quinn, Detective Constable, shoots.

She can feel the guilt coming off of him in waves, afterwards. Rebecca sighs, and walks down towards where the detective constable and the man he’d tried to shoot not even hours ago stand, and puts her hands on both of their shoulders.

“Now, you both have two options- continue to wallow in what happened that day,  _ or _ you can start to  _ heal. _ None of us are going to do that for you, none of us are going to _make that decision_ for you,” she says. Mason sighs, while Quinn grins.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, miss.”

“Professor,” she corrects, “Professor Rebecca Azose,” and something in Quinn’s eyes looks positively  _ joyful. _

“Wouldn’t dream of it,  _ Professor. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, so i'm guessing anyone who's actually read this far can assume it takes a relatively follow-the-plot arc after this (with some notable exceptions to the overarching season plotlines since i prefer recovery and hurt/comfort over straight up angst), since the anomalies don't care who shows up when. there is one notable exception to this but am i really going to pull out the spoilers? nah.


	5. how to scare a telepath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The invasion of the ARC, ft. extra mutants and the azose ladies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters, one day? what am i, a writing machine?

Connor’s devices are almost always brilliant, Becker’s gotten used to that. Cutter sometimes slips, in the back of his head, something like  _ ‘Wasn’t this smart the first time around’ _ , and Becker remembers by force, sometimes, that this man is apparently from a slightly different timeline. Most among the ARC believe he’s delusional, but the ‘main team’, as most of the rest of the ARC refer to the group of complete amateurs that somehow have a surprising level of practical experience, have already confided to him that Helen Cutter has supported this theory.

Becker shrugs his shoulders at that, but he stares in fascination at the locking device- or what might one day become the locking device. It won’t make any of their jobs much easier, even if they can lock the anomalies relatively early- there’s still the time it takes to get there, and in that time, things can  _ easily _ slip through.

So, they’re still glorified Animal Control. That’s a good thing to know, as the anomaly alarm blares and it’s a  _ hospital _ and not everyone on the team can be there because  _ someone _ is kicking up a fuss in the Menagerie (and that’s  _ Shoshannah’s _ irritation, not his, but she’s broadcasting more than usual and it’s putting everyone on edge)-

* * *

Shoshannah stays behind.

The month has been  _ bizarre, _ to say the least. Her mum is seeing someone again (and being rather tight-lipped about it as well, which means, knowing her good taste in women and  _ atrocious  _ choice in men, it's probably a man again), Becker pulled her out of a scuffle  _ by the scruff of her neck _ like she's a month old puppy, and Cutter is actually in a good mood, and has been for a surprisingly long while.

So, this time, when they get the call, Doctor Azose hangs back, because Pearl is throwing a fit again, and the Achillobator is big and dangerous enough that, with the exception of Abby, nobody else who could reasonably call themselves an ‘animal handler’ wants to handle him without supervision (which, makes sense, the raptor is four hundred kilos with a claw the size of a human hand), and Cutter is making the educated guess that this one won’t be archosaurian in nature anyways.

When Cutter calls to tell her the guess is right, she almost chooses to follow them. She missed out on the Gorgonopsid, after all- which makes this the second Permian-era anomaly that the Fantastic Foursome (as those who joined later have been referring to the ‘original team’, or Fantastic Fivesome if they're planning on adding Lester to that count) have dealt with. Or third, if the Forest of Dean anomaly is to be counted twice.

According to Cutter, at least, it  _ very much should be. _ So that makes three Permian involvements between the Fantastic Foursome, and Shoshannah resists the urge to be jealous- despite her love of archosaurians, the Permian has always been of special interest to her for the introduction of thermal regulation in early synapsids.

And so, she hangs back with Doctor Page. She doesn't look up when Cutter arrives, she doesn't pay much attention, only to shoot him a friendly smile and reach out across the bonds they all now have.

She hits a slammed-down wall of ‘no distractions’, which is odd, considering Cutter’s only standing there, not doing anything important at all. She reaches out again, restructuring for the person in front of her, and hits the buzzing, angry wall of telepathic limiters.

Shoshannah’s face scrunches in on itself, and feels panic rising in the back of her head, and tries to mask it (failing miserably).

“There’s something wrong with Cutter,” she tells Lester, voice as quiet as anything, eyes wide. She’s shaking, she knows that much, and there’s  _ something _ in Cutter’s eyes that looks just… it looks  _ wrong. _

“Yes, that much is obvious,” Lester replies, “I think something must have finally cracked him, if I’m to be honest.”

“Not that,” Shoshannah tries to explain, and only comes back with one thing- “He’s wearing  _ limiters _ , telepathic blockers, to be specific- Connor’s already told me how  _ terrible _ those feel when you’re used to communicating telepathically in any way, shape, or form- and I can  _ still feel Cutter. _ I just can’t feel  _ whoever’s over there. _ ”

Lester freezes, and stares at her.

“You must be mistaken,” he says, and that is that.

* * *

Cutter brushes off the repeated concerned pushes from Shoshannah, and shuts down the connection as much as he can- they need to  _ focus, _ right now, he doesn’t have time to deal with whatever panic she’s undergoing at the moment.

There’s a woman  _ giving birth right in front of them _ and Abby’s actually delivered a baby before but Cutter is still  _ there _ to assist.

“We need to disinfect our hands,” Abby says, and that is that.

* * *

Connor  _ really _ doesn’t know what he’s doing, trying to talk to the Diictodon like he’s Shoshannah with a dinosaur.

“Oh, fantastic, now he’s Doctor Doolittle,” Becker groans, and Connor stares at him blankly.

“That’s a better insult for a  _ different _ member of the team, don’t you think?” Stephen asks, and Becker stares at the third man in the room while Connor tries to focus.

“No, it wouldn’t be, because there’s  _ merit _ to it there.”

Connor shrugs his shoulders and turns back to the Diictodon in the crate, sending curious, almost chirp-like questions through the network. Becker gives him a Look that tells Connor the man isn’t too keen on being telephone operator today, but Shoshannah responds, and Shoshannah is  _ panicked. _ There’s something there, in the back of it, like  _ where’s Cutter _ and  _ clones _ and  _ this is not the best of days, innit? _ And Connor wants to reply that it’s  _ fine _ because the Diictodon are cute, actually, and not particularly keen on hurting anyone.

Save anyone  _ on life support in this hospital _ and Connor is suddenly kicked into high, very panicked, gear.

“We need to get word out to prioritize anyone on life support,” he says. Stephen’s eyes widen, and he continues for Connor.

“In any capacity- obviously anyone who’s conscious but requires assistance that can’t be provided without electricity should be a priority, but people will  _ die _ if we leave them here, and some of them will die  _ slowly. _ ”

* * *

There’s an upset sound coming from the Diictodon and a  _ far _ more upset sound coming from the woman giving birth and Abby is glad for two things- the first being the idea to disinfect her hands after handing off the Diictodon to Cutter, and the second being the fact that this is actually a  _ very _ quick labor.

And there’s at least  _ one _ Diictodon still in the hospital, and Abby wonders in the back of her head whether or not they can hold such a voracious chewer in the Menagerie or if they’ll be able to break their way through the metal and the concrete? Abby knows that squirrels and rats and other rodents can chew their way through concrete.

But Diictodon don’t have the same  _ type _ of teeth as modern rodents, they have a little beak, instead, with tusks out the sides of their mouths, and does that mean they can chew through things in the same way a rodent could because it sure  _ looks _ like it-

Another scream from the woman giving birth distracts Abby from this line of thought.

* * *

Shoshannah hears gunfire and hits the deck on instinct, sheltering her head with her hands, ignoring pain. She pulses  _ afraidhelpinvasion _ across every single avenue she can manage, and hits two that might be of some actual help.

The first is Becker, who’s mostly confused and is still needed at the hospital, so Shoshannah jerks back and lets him do his other job. There are frightened civilians at the hospital, and if the power goes out entirely they might very well end up dead anyways. Shoshannah is glad that the Menagerie can be operated remotely- she just has to get to the buttons, and Pearl and Cinnamon should be able to get out just fine.

Shoshannah’s breathing is ragged. She feels borrowed fear as well as her own- memories from people she’s not, her grandmother’s memories, her great-aunt’s memories, the ones that are stained in fear and blood and gore and death, and tries to slow herself down, to even herself out. She needs a calm mind to be able to work this out, to be able to do  _ something _ helpful. She tries pushing out at the gunmen, telling them to  _ stop, _ to back down, but she’s not like her mother, she’s not like anyone else in her family, she can’t dig her hooks into someone’s head like they can (and it’s not a  _ moral _ issue, either- she’s just straight up physically incapable of the feats of telepathy the rest of her family find so  _ easy- _ ).

She wishes Becker was here. Becker’s a stronger telepath than she is by far, he’d be able to work something out. She  _ is _ glad Stephen’s not here, though, the sound of gunfire  _ is _ loud, and-

It’s Helen, because of  _ course _ it is, because it’s  _ always _ Helen. Shoshannah’s indignation keeps her on her feet, and she presses the button behind her back, and  _ listens. _

No gunfire, not in the direction of the Menagerie, at least. The raptors are likely at large, but if they remember  _ anything, _ they’ll know to come to her, and that means potential backup.

“Oh, little beast-speaker,” Helen says, “Nothing to say?”

“Oh, I have a  _ lot _ to say, I’m just practicing keeping my mouth shut,” she mumbles, eyes ahead, staring at nothing. She resists the urge to duck behind Lester and  _ hide. _

And just then, the second avenue opens, and Shoshannah’s breathing steadies just a little bit more, because her Mum might actually be able to do something in this situation, and she’s grateful for even the smallest bit of assistance in not having a panic attack.

“What have you done?” Lester asks, almost sarcastically, and Shoshannah stares, wide-eyed.

“That’s not Cutter,” she says, “I  _ told you that’s not Cutter. _ ”

“I’m sure you’re smart enough not to try anything,” Helen replies, a grin across her face, before she spins back the way she was going.

“Not like I can do anything here,” she says weakly, under her breath, and shakes, before her head snaps up. She resists the urge to grin at the sound- a faint, pushed-air snort, that she’s gotten rather familiar with. She knows Jenny hears it too.

Maybe they’ve got a chance, after all.

Shoshannah doesn’t notice the gunshot wounds on her front and back (slightly deeper than a graze, deep enough to go  _ through _ instead of  _ against _ , but not anywhere important- closer to her side, than anything else, not enough to do anything but bleed). She does notice the bleeding, but decides, in the panic, that it’s probably best to not kick up a fuss about it.

* * *

Stephen feels panic edging at the back of his head, for some reason. He doesn’t know  _ why _ \- some kind of paranoia, maybe, but he’s spent long enough going over everything to know that it’s not from  _ him. _ Becker looks concerned, as well, but they’re both tired, and so they, for the most part, ignore it.

It’s a  _ bad _ idea. The second they start to relax, they’re whammied with it- they’re  _ all _ whammied with it. Becker practically doubles over, clutching his side like he’s been injured, and most of them feel phantom pain  _ somewhere _ (Stephen walks them through how to get over it), but Cutter stares out ahead of himself.

“There’s something wrong,” he says, and Stephen bites through a “What gave you that idea?” response.

There’s fear, pain, panic, but it feels more than anything like a  _ tug. _

“We need to get back to the ARC,” Becker says, eyes stormy, and Stephen knows better by now than to get in his way.

* * *

Shoshannah heals quickly (not the quickest- it still takes her a while to get back over things, but she  _ does _ heal far quicker than a human would), and so, she ignores whatever’s making her hurt like it is, grits her teeth, and asks Lester what to do.

She’s glad for the darkness of her vest and the darkness of the room, at the moment.

“Are you sure you can’t-”

“No, I can’t shift Helen, and even if I could, I wouldn’t be able to pull off her well enough to fool her minions. I can’t- copying is  _ very _ advanced. I can copy someone based off of touch or extensive experience with them, but I can’t mimic Helen’s body language, or her  _ voice, _ which is the priority in what we need. I-”

“No need for a lecture, we already understand,” Lester says, “Now it’s back to the drawing board, I suppose. Does  _ anyone _ here have an idea? One, single, better idea?”

“I mean, I released the raptors,” Shoshannah replies with a shrug, and Lester inhales sharply, before nodding.

“Alright, are they still here, or have they escaped?”

“Last I checked, they were still in here,” she replies, and shuffles uncomfortably. They get started on an audio file, before Connor and Abby are shuffled into the room.

“ _ What _ is going on?” Connor hisses, “There are two versions of Cutter.”

“Azose, if you say ‘I told you so’, you are  _ fired _ , is that understood?” Lester barks, and Shoshannah nods, eyes wide.

“Right, yeah, I wasn’t planning on it,” Shoshannah wheezes, and reaches out again. Her mother is getting closer, and she’s  _ angry, _ which is always a good sign when Shoshannah is in danger, because her mother somehow only gets  _ more _ competent when she’s angry.

“My Mum’s on her way, if that helps at all,” Shoshannah hums. Abby cocks her head.

“D’you think she could copy Helen?” she asks, and Shoshannah shakes her head.

“I’ve told you before- I’ve only got one relative who can copy flawlessly enough to fool whoever the people outside those doors are, and he’s in the States.”

“Doesn’t need to be a  _ flawless _ copy,” Abby replies, “Just needs to be  _ good enough. _ ”

Shoshannah shrugs her shoulders.

“I’ve never seen her do it, so I can’t speak to that.”

* * *

Stephen has only met the young doctor’s professor mother once, and only briefly, but he knows not to look a gift horse in the mouth when the woman can calm the two massive raptors that have escaped down all the way in only a few moments.

“They recognize my daughter in me,” Professor ‘Call me Rebecca’ Azose says, looking Cinnamon in the Achillobator’s brilliant yellow eyes, “Wouldn’t be likely to listen to me otherwise.”

“We’ll get them out,” Stephen tells her, and Rebecca nods. She’s intimidating, that much is certain, and professional, but the cracks are beginning to spread. She’s afraid for her daughter, that much is glaringly obvious- she paces like a caged animal (or like Cutter when he has  _ ideas, _ and Stephen wonders if it’s all professors that do this and he’s just never noticed, or if it’s just a human thing, and they’re all really animals in a cage), and quietly, dutifully recites classifications, and goes over the plan a half-dozen times with Becker.

Yes, Professor Azose is a professional person, but everyone has their breaking point. Stephen wonders if the woman will hit hers, today.

* * *

There’s a slam at the door, of a man falling to the ground, and the door opens, and Connor resists the urge to hide, but it’s just Becker.

“Hart and Azose the Older are still outside, as are the raptors. Connor, come with me- the rest of you, stay  _ here. _ ”

There’s a lilt to his voice at the end of that, and Connor watches as knees lock. He’s not used to Becker actually  _ using _ his telepathy in a defensive role, not very much, at least, and the way he does is surprising enough.

“What if they need to get out?”

“Then the impulse to stay still will shatter in an  _ instant, _ now Connor, if you could be quiet, please.”

He is. They enter the PA system.

“ _ Sleep, _ ” Becker snarls, and the man does, eyes glazing over and falling to the floor. Connor grins. If he hadn’t gotten to know Becker over the last few months, perhaps he would have been worried about the blatant display of power.

“Shame you can’t do that to everyone else,” Connor laughs.

“It is. That’s- that took more than it should have, usually a simple push, even for a  _ strong _ mind, is enough, even if they have some shielding. That took at least six or seven times the usual effort, and it’s not fast like it could have been,” Becker hisses irritably. Connor doesn’t quite know what to tell him about that- that these men won’t listen to a word if it’s not from Helen and therefore can’t be Charmed? Yes, that’s probably right, but the words stick in Connor’s throat and just  _ won’t. come. out. _

* * *

Shoshannah lunges for the man, all teeth and claws and anger. She doesn’t shift, not completely, but it- it’s a bit like a step to the side, more than anything else. Her teeth, already slightly sharper than a human’s, sharpen further, letting her  _ bite _ , and she lashes out with her feet and her hands and anything that connects. She gets another blow to the stomach for her trouble, and can  _ feel _ what’s already closed in the injury re-opening, though fortunately the slowed bleeding doesn’t speed up again. She feels herself being thrown against the wall, almost out-of-body, and then-

And then-

And then,  _ Connor does it, _ the PA system comes on, and Shoshannah practically cries with relief. It might not be over yet, they might have to fight even more to get out, and her side wound might still be bleeding (and she might be a little light-headed), but they’re going to be okay. At least, maybe. They might turn out alright.

And then there’s a tremendous bang, and everything goes  _ wrongwrongwrongwrongwrong  _ and she can’t breathe and she can’t breathe and  _ she can’t breathe _ -

Oh. Smoke inhalation. A wave of artificial calm washes over her- Shoshannah recognizes her mother’s signature anywhere, and clings to it as hard as she can as they escape. She hisses, and misses a step, and falls behind, and  _ falls. _

Cutter’s hand catches hers, and he and Connor and Becker help haul her to her feet.

“Good friends,” she wheezes, as they stumble through the doors.

Cutter goes back in anyways.

Shoshannah can feel the push of ‘ _ move, you  _ idiot’ across the network half on instinct, sudden and hard and fast like a shark attack, which is fitting, considering the person who gives the command is her mother. If she hadn’t been there, perhaps things would have gone far differently, but the shot is a gut wound- similar to her own, really, but far more dangerous- not a chest wound, not to the lungs.

Shoshannah stumbles when Connor and her mother carry Cutter to the ambulance. The last thing she can remember (she knows she was awake until they’d given her the good drugs, but she can’t remember all of it) is the look of horror on her mother’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha did anyone actually think i was going to kill off cutter? nope! we're everybody lives/nobody dies up in here


	6. serrations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> giganotosaurs aren't that fond of listening to things smaller than they are, huh?  
> (ft. my interpretation of a more accurate giga because pronated hands and shrinkwrapping are a no no)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops turns out i can crank out at least one more chapter

Cutter is still in the hospital and out cold most of the time when Shoshannah gets back. Not surprising- if she’d not been a mutant,  _ she’d _ be in the hospital by the time that she gets back. The detector is still on the fritz, they still don’t know what the object Connor and Cutter came out of there clutching is, and Shoshannah is still trying to argue that  _ yes, Mum, I’m still going to show up whether or not they pay me _ . She’s also still trying to figure out who her mother is quietly seeing, so she can threaten them properly, but it seems that might have to sit on the back burner for a little while.

She arrives at an ARC still in disarray, to hugs and a few mumbled words and teary eyes. Shoshannah feels eyes on her, and wants to  _ hide. _ It’s not- it’s not okay, not just yet. She flinches whenever someone comes too close into her space, sometimes, unless it’s one of  _ her _ people, because  _ her _ people are always welcome in her space.

She’s not really been cleared for work, not yet, but instinct tells her she needs to be here now, today, if not any other day. And besides, her doctors aren’t used to her rapid healing- she’s perfectly capable of doing strenuous things. She hadn’t needed surgery, she’d gone home a week and a half ago. The only reason she hasn’t showed up before now is her mother (and her mystery boyfriend) running interference.

She walks over to where her desk used to be. There’s a small package, there- well, not small, it is rather bulky-

It’s an article of clothing, mildly heavy, a bit like a cross between armor and a binder. Shoshannah knows what it is on sight.

“You lot got me a bulletproof vest,” she laughs, and wipes away her tears before anyone else sees them.

“We got one for Cutter, too. Sort of a ‘don’t get shot again’ message, if you get what I’m saying,” Stephen says jokingly. Shoshannah ignores the way her throat begins to close up at the reminder, and clutches the vest closer to her chest.

She wonders if it will upset her healing injury, then shakes her head and puts it on anyways.

It doesn’t. Shoshannah is glad for it. With the way that shoulders seem to relax when she moves like nothing happened, she’s glad for them, too.

“I’ll make sure he knows about it,” Shoshannah replies.

The anomaly alarm blares-  _ finally. _ Shoshannah relaxes, somehow, despite knowing that they’re going to get themselves into a hell of a lot of trouble just by moving.

Anomalies are familiar trouble. She knows exactly what she’s walking into in the most basic of senses, even if none of them ever know the specifics until the creature arrives.

Shoshannah shrugs off the vest and replaces it with her normal one, but keeps the kevlar close. She might not need it now, but there’s always the chance for eventualities.

She’ll prove herself again today, she hopes. She’ll prove that she’s still a valid member of this team, that she’s still important, that her work is still  _ vital. _

She hopes.

* * *

Christine Johnson scares her. Maybe it’s just all of the guns being waved around (and maybe she’s not as put back together as she thought she was). She grips onto her own hand tightly, imagines it’s anyone else to help her, to see her- and refuses to shake in front of any of these people. The team sees. The team  _ always _ sees.

Becker- it’s always Becker, that’s how telepathy works- is the first to notice. Captain Wilder raises his weapon, and Shoshannah steps forwards.

“ _ Lower your weapon, Captain Wilder, _ I don’t particularly enjoy having it pointed at me,” she says. There are a few jolts of surprise among the people behind her- Shoshannah doesn’t quite know what for, but Captain Wilder does lower his weapon, a glazed look in his eye.

_ ‘Well done, though we likely didn’t need it,’ _ Becker says, before they leave, and looks even more perplexed when Shoshannah replies  _ ‘What for?’ _

_ ‘Charming, Enforcing, whatever you want to call it.’ _

Shoshannah stops in her tracks, and stares. She’s  _ never _ successfully done something like that, before. But she’d been frightened, and she’s rarely used to being frightened-

“Oh, this isn’t a good theory to test,” she says wearily, before they walk outside to a blaring car alarm, and Jenny’s panic, and everyone else’s panic.

Lester isn’t happy. That much is obvious. She won’t reach out to calm him down, won’t even try, not  _ now _ , not when they might very well need that anger.

Connor’s panicking, for some reason, and also, for some reason, doesn’t calm down when she tells him for the millionth time that Lester’s far more worried about all of them than he lets on, doesn’t even calm down when Stephen reaffirms that fact. So it’s something else, but Connor’s put his shields up, though they feel far weaker than normal.

They don’t have much time for it. The detector blares again, and Shoshannah knows better than to try to kick up a fuss about Connor keeping something quiet when the detector’s already kicking up a fuss.

Stephen pulls out his running blade (the one that he always wears a shoe on) and takes it with him. Shoshannah doesn’t know if that’s a good idea or not- though she doesn’t exactly know how long it takes for Stephen to switch his prosthetics out- but it’s fair enough in theory. She just hopes that whatever they’re dealing with won’t be as impossible as the Pristichampsus from what seems like so long ago- that whatever it is will be willing to listen to reason.

* * *

Of course it’s at an airfield. Danny doesn’t know why he would expect otherwise. He hopes they show up soon- of course, as long as whatever they use to find these things is still intact, it shouldn’t be much of a problem- but he heard that there was an explosion of some sort, and of course, that means things won’t be flowing as smoothly as they should be. So Danny can’t do all that much beyond hoping, and hoping that hoping is enough.

* * *

Jenny sighs with exasperation when she sees who she’s hit. This exasperation turns into fear when she hears exactly what he’s so frantic about that he’s willing to run in front of a car to get their attention.

Stephen grabs a tranquilizer gun, and puts down his normal prosthetic (Jenny thinks he must have switched them in the car), and Jenny grabs the tranquilizers, and Shoshannah grabs her bat, and Connor grabs another one of the tranquilizer guns, holding it for Stephen or Jenny, of course, because while Connor’s aim is getting better, it’s not as good as hers or Stephen’s.

Jenny sees Shoshannah grab the mufflers, as well.

“How about we all go together?” Stephen asks, pulling the mufflers over his ears. Jenny’s glad that the two of them who can actually shoot are both holding guns.

“On three,” Connor replies.

There’s nothing there, not at first. So the four of them go in further- Stephen is first, then Jenny, and then Shoshannah and Connor. There’s a whistle, and then the door shuts.

“Great,” Connor growls, and there are sighs all around, before Jenny takes a look at Shoshannah’s bat again.

“Wait. Do you think if we pried the bars off of this window, we could smash through it, and someone could lift the smallest of us out the window to open it from the outside? A reverse of breaking into a car?” she asks.

“That could work. Jenny, could you call Becker? Shoshannah, you take care of the ripping and smashing, I’ll lift you out the window when you’re done.”

“Actually, I think window is better suited to Connor, I can lift him,” the young doctor replies, and Jenny, in the middle of a call with Becker, studies that curiously.

The young doctor was a few centimeters taller than Abby when she’d arrived, and she’s clearly grown. Now, she’s Connor’s height, if not taller, and quickly outpacing him.

“Right, of course,” she says, voice warm, and Shoshannah beams, and gets right to work.

She might be an annoyance and a pain, at times, but she will gladly follow orders from Jenny or Lester or Cutter, and that’s something that Jenny can appreciate.

* * *

There’s a surprisingly low amount of the standard nonstop chatter that they’ve gotten used to, but Stephen looks over to see that Shoshannah has, indeed, gotten to work, very carefully ripping each of the bars out by the base so they won’t hurt the person that ends up going through the window.

It’s methodical, almost. She doesn’t move much, just busy ripping apart wires like pieces of thread and slowly pulling them away from where they should be. Stephen didn’t think it would take this long. He’s of the opinion that the kid’s rather low on common sense, though she may be smart. Common sense would dictate that she just rip the bars off the door, smash through the window with a bat, and deal with the tetanus shot later. But no. Of  _ course _ the kid takes the other obvious option and slowly and methodically rips every single wire from the base.

There’s a roar, and Shoshannah’s head jerks up. There’s an honest-to-god  _ grin _ there, and Stephen knows what that means.

She steps back, for a moment.

* * *

Shoshannah smiles.

_ “Who are you? What is this place? Where are my kin- I am hungry, I shall feed.” _

The smile dips at the last of those sentences, but Shoshannah is still happy about the first three concepts- she knows what the creature, whatever it is, wants. She  _ also _ happens to know that it’s someone- or something- she can reason with.

“Carnosaur, by the accent,” she offers, though she’s really only ever met one carnosaur, so is she really an authority on what their accents are like?

“That- yeah, you’re probably right,” Stephen hums, cocking his head, “It’s a very similar roar to the one belonging to the Morrison Formation Allosaurus that we dealt with about a year ago.”

The door shakes. They whip around. Shoshannah sends out comfort as best she can- there’s something familiar, she knows, about whatever’s at the door, it’s not a threat, it’s not, it’s-

It’s the Detective. With a crowbar.

Shoshannah almost drops her bat.  _ Almost. _ She blinks, and barely notices that Stephen and Jenny have raised their guns.

“Well, you don’t want to do that,” Danny Quinn says, “You need all the help you can get.”

They’re out the door in no time. Danny’s quite insistent.

“Why are you here?” Shoshannah barks, and Danny takes a step back.

“Your mother asked me to look out for you, I’d thought she’d told you.”

Shoshannah’s brain stops, for a moment, and takes a second to reboot.

“So,” she says, voice careful, “ _ You’re _ my mother’s new boyfriend.”

There’s an awkward cough from Stephen, and she can feel the surprise from Jenny.

“Ah, yeah,” Danny replies, “Is that- is that going to be a problem? Becca said it might be a problem,”

“I love my mother, but she has  _ terrible _ taste in men,” Shoshannah replies, “You want to get on my good side, you prove you’re an exception to the rule.”

“No, if he takes one more step, I will  _ shoot _ him,” Jenny growls.

“We have more pressing problems to worry about,” Connor says, “Like-”

“Like an upset apex predator in a public place,” Shoshannah replies, “A  _ very _ upset apex predator. Now, let’s  _ move. _ ”

There’s a cry for help, and they all start moving. A man is trapped under the car- the same man that locked them in the building, but Shoshannah is admittedly very bad about holding grudges, even when she probably should.

Shoshannah flips the car over.

“Right, you can do that,” Stephen says as she rips one of the doors off its hinges.

Shoshannah grins good-naturedly.

* * *

“He’s gonna be back,” Connor says, “He knows there’s easy prey here.”

“She,” Shoshannah corrects, and Connor looks at Stephen, who shrugs his shoulders.

“Fine,  _ she _ knows there’s easy prey here. Shosh, did you manage to hear anything?”

“Mostly the fact that she was clearly upset because of the absence of family, which suggests a pack structure.”

“Look, here’s what I think we should do,” Danny says, and Connor watches in stunned silence as Jenny lays into him.

“This is a secure zone, you don’t have authorization to be here, so  _ leave. Now. _ ”

“Do you want me to arrest him?” Becker asks. Jenny gives another warning, and-

“So where do you want all this stuff?” Danny asks. Jenny stares in obvious disbelief, before Danny turns back to her, grinning, and shouts “Not leaving!”

“Why exactly did your mother give you a guard dog instead of coming herself? She’d’ve been more useful,” Connor grumbles to Shoshannah, who shrugs her shoulders.

“Probably taking care of the aviary, I don’t know. She’s rehabilitating an injured white tailed eagle at the moment- well, we’re both rehabilitating the eagle, actually, it’s a two person job- but if I’d have to wager a guess, she’s making sure Aya doesn’t get into the meat locker again.”

* * *

Danny’s not that familiar with Rebecca’s daughter beyond the few near fights they’d had around the first anomaly he’d dealt with (and, up to this point, the  _ only _ anomaly he’d dealt with). He knows she’s strong- Rebecca had mentioned offhand that the girl is quite a bit like her at her age, but with a better support system in place (by design), and Rebecca can flip a car (and freeze a room, though that’s a  _ specific _ spell she’s been teaching Danny in her spare time), same as her daughter- and he knows that she’s less likely to hold a grudge but far more irritable than her mother, but he hadn’t known it would run  _ this _ deep.

Doctor Shoshannah Azose seems to be a rather sweet person when interacting with her team- friendly and bubbly, full of smiles. It’s the kind of thing that kicks Danny’s remaining parental instinct into high gear, what made him willing to play at private investigator. He sees bits and pieces of his brother in her, even though they’ve never met (god, she was a toddler when Patrick disappeared).

The grudge match being with other people, though? Danny can work with that.

The- whatever it is that Temple- Connor, they call him Connor- is trying to set up fritzes itself out, and just like that, at the worst possible moment, there is an  _ earth-shattering _ roar, and Danny resists the primal urge to play dead.

Everyone freezes.  _ Everyone. _ Nobody moves more than an inch, breathing shallowly so the creature won’t notice them, until-

There’s a barrage of movement, when the creature begins to leave, and Danny doesn’t notice he’s the one moving until he’s already begun running after the thing.

_ ‘Giganotosaurus,’ _ a voice pushes, and Danny stops right in his tracks. He knows telepathy, but-

_ ‘If you’re going to be here anyways, might get as much help possible to not die,’ _ the teenager replies snippily. Danny laughs, and keeps running.

* * *

Stephen and Connor and a few others stay back with the anomaly. Shoshannah is shoved into a car with Becker and Jenny, instead. Which makes sense. Move fast, talk to the dinosaur.

Only problems are thus:

Number one, she’s not entirely sure that the Giganotosaurus running down the runway can actually hear her above the wind. She knows some birds can, but it’s almost always those that already have specialized hearing, and never anything already upset.

Number two, she could be like the Pristichampsus, and not  _ want _ to listen to her. That’s an issue that Shoshannah is fully prepared to face. The Giganotosaurus is long, and heavy with muscle, but she’s not very smart, and she can’t stretch up much higher than she can at the moment.

“What are you waiting for? An invitation?” Jenny shouts. Shoshannah stares up at the much larger creature. The Giganotosaurus is a dappled light brown and tan, with filamentous basal feathers that look almost like hair on a boar or a porcupine acting almost like a cape across her back.

She is some great beast, a picture of majesty from the old legends.

“Hello,” Shoshannah says, “I think we need to have a bit of a conversation, yeah?”

The Giganotosaurus  _ listens,  _ leans her head down, and replies.

_ “Over what, prey? You cannot lecture me about anything, you are no threat. You are small, and cannot back up any of your promises.” _

Shoshannah grins, all teeth.

“You see, the thing is, eating humans- for  _ any _ species- is a bit of a difficult problem. Because, sure, there is some immediate benefit- food, though I’d argue humans on average tend to be pound-for-pound far too scrawny to make much of an effort. However, you need to consider the consequences.”

_ “What consequences?” _

“Humans tend to be  _ very, very good _ at killing things that kill them. The humans here- they’re a bit too focused on making sure everyone gets out alive to actually  _ kill _ you, but make no mistake, if you stayed long enough for the anomaly to close, or your kin entered into this time with you, I can promise you that they’d likely not be gorging themselves for very long.”

_ “But you have no claws or teeth,” _ the Giganotosaurus hums, confused. Shoshannah smiles further.

“Most interesting thing about humans there is that, dear. No need for claws or teeth when you can create a machine that can blow something to kingdom come from miles away for you.”

The Giganotosaurus is  _ interested, _ now. Shoshannah doesn’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

_ “Give me an example.” _

“Well, you see this big hunk of metal right here?” Shoshannah asks. Theropods save birds have heads too heavy to nod, so the Giganotosaurus claps her claws together.

_ “Yes, I see the not-beast.” _

“Under the right circumstances, it can fly.”

That’s not the right thing to say, clearly, as the Giganotosaurus snorts and attempts to eat them again. Fortunately, she’s stalled enough for someone to come up with a different plan.

* * *

_ ‘Not working, I fucked up and tried to explain aerodynamics to a carnosaur,’ _ is the first thing that Connor feels when the anomaly locks (on purpose!). The knot of dread sinks deeper into his stomach. Connor runs, Abby drives, and then Connor is driving three or four cars of luggage down the runway.

And then he stops. And the monster trips over her own bulk and Connor’s getaway vehicle, and he stares at the massive beast, breathing hard on the ground. And he tries to run, he does, but-

_ ‘DON’T MOVE’ _ blares through his head from what feels like a half-dozen sources- and is that  _ Cutter, _ too? Is this Cutter’s idea of entertainment from a hospital bed because this doesn’t feel very entertaining to Connor-

There’s a whir of helicopter blades at the same time that a large bird attacks the Giganotosaurus’s eyes. The bird- Shoshannah, probably- doesn’t do much damage, but the helicopter certainly distracts the thing, enough for Connor to run, and then abruptly be pulled into the car onto Becker’s lap while Jenny and Shoshannah try their best to create  _ some _ kind of plan in the backseat.

“Connor, did you lock the anomaly?” Jenny asks. Connor grins, replies, and  _ realizes. _

“It’s alright,” Shoshannah says, “I think I’ve got this.”

The seventeen year old Moondancer leans out the window and screams at the Giganotosaurus to  _ just shut up for a second, will you? _

Connor shouldn’t be surprised that it works. He’s known the doctor for over a year already, knows that while she can’t  _ make _ any creature do anything, the open lines of communication are never an issue, and she can be convincing when she needs to be (this is not applicable  _ most of the time, _ but with Becker’s training she’s been getting much better). It’s not particularly comforting that the creature’s attention is towards the car-

And then she jumps  _ out _ of the car. That’s neat. That’s not freaking Connor out at all.

“Good luck!” she calls, and shifts.

* * *

The Giganotosaurus is surprisingly easy to convince to go back. She’s dazed, angry, and hungry to boot, and Danny has to guide her, unfortunately, which results in a helicopter through the anomaly and two dead humans, but Danny runs out of the anomaly relatively fine.

“They- I think she’s not happy with them, or something, but one of the smaller ones is on its way,” he says. Shoshannah cups her hands around her mouth and  _ roars _ in reply, a sound that’s a near-perfect mimic of the adult back on the other side of the anomaly. There’s a terrified chittering sound, and the juvenile that’s halfway out the anomaly before Connor can shut it races back inside.

And the anomaly locks.

And they  _ breathe. _

And Danny runs, but Shoshannah doesn’t mind very much, because if they can work together in any capacity, he’s  _ probably _ alright. Besides, he clearly adores her mother and is well aware that she can kick him to kingdom come if he tries anything.

“Do we have to send a team over to yours, Doctor?” Jenny asks. Shoshannah laughs, and shakes her head.

“No, Mum’ll probably tell him to lay low for a while. One thing’s for sure, though, he’s not going away.”

She hopes. It’s been a long time since her mum’s found someone who wouldn’t run off on her- the girlfriends tend to end more amicably, but they still  _ leave. _

Shoshannah doesn’t have abandonment issues.

She  _ doesn’t. _

(She totally does.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no updates until I get back into the country and hulu works again.
> 
> Also: filamentous feathers, because there's evidence of quills on ornithischians so why not Giganotosaurus? also ft. looking like a wild boar or a porcupine because I think that's neat


	7. birdsong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the fungus creatures episode! + Latent Magic Danny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is part of a two-parter bc i got another chapter ahead when i was writing and i figured i'd just post both  
> Just as an FYI, this one *does* mention how Shosh still has issues with gunfire.

There’s something wrong- it’s not unusual for things to be wrong, even now, even  _ weeks _ after the Giganotosaurus incident.

Shoshannah recognizes the scent, now, and sees Stephen laugh in the corner of her eye as he does the same.

Danny. It’s Danny. It’s  _ always _ Danny, now.

“You know, if you wanted to give everyone in here successive panic attacks, you could have just tried waving a gun around, that’s been doing the trick,” she growls. A few faces fall at the realization.

“Can you pistol-whip him?” Lester asks. Becker rolls his eyes.

“You’ve seen what I can do, and I want in,” Danny replies. There’s a hint of determination in the back of his voice, some sort of lilt that snaps everything into place like it did with Sarah and Becker.

Speaking of, Shoshannah looks up, and stares the man in question dead on.

_ ‘He’s going to end up working with us, isn’t he?’ _ Becker asks tiredly.

_ ‘Absolutely.’ _

_ ‘Is that… snapping into place… a Moondancer thing?’ _

_ ‘Yeah. I’ve never felt it before this team, though, which is giving me the idea that everyone’s sort of… sliding into place, like pieces of a puzzle.’ _

_ ‘Which means he’s going to stay.’ _

_ ‘Which means he’s going to stay, yeah.’ _

“I can hear you, you know,” Lester grumbles.

* * *

“Are you all alright?” is the last thing any of them expect Danny to say. Shoshannah raises her head and sighs.

“I don't think any of us have been alright for a long time, actually,” Connor cuts in.

“Wow, way to go the depressing route,” Stephen snorts.

“No, Connor’s right. When's the last time we actually processed something instead of just shoving it into the backs of our heads and hoping the trauma wasn't too bad? I  _ still _ can't handle gunfire, makes me curl up and cry like a little baby when I get the chance.”

There are a few  _ very _ concerned looks at that last statement, Stephen among them.

“Go home.”

She does. It's probably the best idea, they don't need her today, not at all. She calls them from Cutter’s hospital room, when she gets there.

Good. Maybe, just maybe, once everyone’s done with recovery, they can put things back to  _ normal. _

* * *

Connor grins and bounces around, showing off the detector, before he realizes that the Diictodon have chewed through the wires, and-

And Christine Johnson is here.  _ Great. _

_ ‘I already shut everyone not here out of the network for a short time,’ _ Becker tells them before anyone can kick up a fuss about their still-recovering members knowing about Serious Problems. Connor resists the urge to swear like a sailor- the Menagerie still isn’t up and running after the explosion, most of the animals being kept either in facilities where they can be kept safe (the large, dangerous animals- save the male Columbian Mammoth from last year, of course, he’s being kept near a herd of Asian Elephants, his closest living relatives) or in the personal homes of members of the ARC (which is where small, inoffensive animals tend to go- the Diictodon with Connor, Rex with Abby, and Aya with Shoshannah), and he’s let voracious chewers into the main ARC building.

Jenny seems more upset than usual, and Doctor Page has accidentally set off a fire alarm just by existing again. Connor tries to get them in a good mood, or something like that, but Stephen’s the one that does it properly.

“Listen,” Stephen says, “We can’t think about any of that, now. We  _ need _ to be put together and we  _ need _ to focus. I don’t think any of us trust Johnson- and if you do, you’re an  _ idiot- _ but we need to act professional. For Lester, at the very least, god knows the man has our backs when we don’t deserve it.”

“For Lester,” Connor agrees. They’re quieter than usual, as they make their way to the anomaly. Connor and Stephen and Abby cluster together as much as they can.

“I miss Cutter, I hope he’s back soon,” Abby mutters under her breath. If Connor hadn’t been right next to her, perhaps Stephen would have been the only one to hear it.

“You’re not the only one,” Stephen replies, “Though I’m not sure if he  _ will _ be back. He’s only barely been cleared for physical therapy, he hasn’t even  _ started _ it yet. He was in a coma for over a  _ week. _ He probably won’t be back for months, and even then, will probably need a mobility aid.”

There’s a measured tone to his voice, like Stephen is insuring that they won’t give up on Cutter just because it’s going to take a long time and he very likely will never get better.

“Stephen, trust us, it’s going to take a lot more than ‘inconveniences’ to get us to stop caring about Professor Cutter,” Connor laughs in reply, and the man’s shoulders relax.

“Good,” he says, “Good.”

Connor gets the feeling this isn’t just about Cutter.

* * *

_ ‘What do you know about Captain Wilder?’ _ Lester asks across the network while they’re on their way back. Becker cocks his head, and answers.

_ ‘He’s never really let me into his head the way that all of you have, but I’ve never been the unobservant type. He’s- he’s a good leader, that much is certain, but I got the feeling that he was very,  _ very _ deep into Johnson’s pocket. Wrapped around her finger, so to speak.’ _

_ ‘Good to know. I take it you don’t think he’d work well with the team?’ _

Becker resists the urge to shake his head. He can see that Stephen notices- the man gives him a very confused look, and Becker pats the man’s knee reassuringly, and gestures to his head, mouthing ‘Lester’. Stephen nods understandingly.

_ ‘No. He’d try to make this work like a military operation. It’s not. What did Cutter say to me the first day- that we’re a glorified version of Animal Control?- it’s not  _ quite _ that, but our goal is to protect civilians, not kill anything that comes through the anomalies.’ _

_ ‘Thank you for your honesty, Captain.’ _

Becker sighs, and sits back. He’s right, that much is for certain. Captain Wilder would  _ hate _ the ARC, where a zookeeper, a seventeen year old girl, and a former university student are the three ‘scientist’ members of the on-site team, where an archaeologist got added to the roster  _ on accident, _ where the people understand that aside from Helen, they don’t have enemies through those anomalies.

Captain Wilder isn’t paranoid, but he wouldn’t understand that, wouldn’t understand why they treat what comes through the shattered glass portals as  _ animals _ that need  _ redirecting _ and not threats that need killing.

He hopes Lester will take his advice to heart, but one can never know for sure.

* * *

Panic. Panic, panic, panic. Connor isn’t panicking. He’s  _ not. _

Stephen very much is panicking, in the way that Stephen rarely does, all pacing and hands in his hair. Connor wants very much to get him to calm down, but has to consider whether or not to put himself and Stephen in quarantine and  _ they should have been wearing gas masks _ and-

Calm, forced calm, like a barrier’s been leapt over, swept past. A tsunami of calm. A tidal wave of calm. They’re good. They’re going to be okay. Connor can  _ do this _ .

The calm doesn’t feel as artificial as it usually does, if he’s right about the source.

_ ‘I’m not coming in. If you need to quarantine, I’m  _ not _ going to disrupt it,’ _ Shoshannah tells them all,  _ ‘But if you need me, I’m here, just ask.’ _

It echoes, like it’s spreading to all of them, like the fungus might be-

Calm, again. Connor breathes, staring at the fungus rapidly growing in the chamber. They can do this. They’re not going to die. They’re  _ fine. _ At the very least, they have time, but they need to figure out what to do, first, before they do anything else.

“Stephen,” Connor says, “Do we know any experts in mycological epidemiology?”

“No, but I think I might be able to call in a favor from a mycologist and an epidemiologist  _ separately. _ Should be good enough. I hope.”

“We all hope,” Connor replies, continuing to stare at the rapidly growing fungus. He wonders what time period it’s from.

* * *

Danny isn’t  _ quite _ sure what’s going on, but he has a good enough idea. Fortunately, the kid’s already gone home, so that’s one person that’s not to be worried about.

“And why should we trust you, Danny?” Sarah asks, flames lighting the pyrokinetic’s face just right so that she looks actively intimidating (which she really doesn’t otherwise). Danny bites back a laugh, and grins instead, but considers the ‘we’ for a moment- it’s the unconscious ‘we’ of a member of a telepathic network, someone who’s gotten so used to slipping into the back of their head to talk that they think for the group as quickly as themselves. Like if  _ they all _ trust someone, it’s worth it to trust them as individuals.

Danny wasn’t aware that the team he’s dealing with are such close friends, but he’ll make it work.

“Because if I was going to cause trouble, I would have done it a long time ago, and I’ve got an honest face.”

It seems to work. Sarah narrows her eyes, and then leans back, probably half physically, the other half being in her head. Danny feels something else dig into his own.

_ ‘Ah, who’re you?’ _

_ ‘Captain Becker. We won’t add you to the network, not yet, but anything you need to say without speaking can go through me if you need,’ _ the telepath pushes. Danny remembers a tall young man with a good attitude, and smiles.

_ ‘Good.’ _

Danny starts to investigate. He doesn’t know quite what he’s looking for, but other folks snooping around certainly fit the bill, until-

The man’s choking, and  _ something _ is spreading. Danny’s eyes widen in horror. He hits the alarm and slams the door, shaking.

_ ‘Something’s gone wrong,’ _ he pushes back,  _ ‘Everyone needs to be on alert.’ _

Becker thanks him.

* * *

Connor’s not sure why his co-worker’s mother’s boyfriend is so upset up until he sees the hazmat suit.

“What exactly did you do in there?” he asks.

“I didn’t do  _ anything. _ Look, the man in there- still alive. We’ve  _ got  _ to get him out of there.”

“Okay, Stephen and I are handling this, we’ve had biohazard training.”

“Stephen’s wearing a modified running blade, not a standard prosthetic, the suit won’t fit right. Besides, I’ve had biohazard training, too.”

The man is dead. They don’t make it there in time. There’s only a small blotch on his face that isn’t covered. Connor will have to tell Cutter about this, when everything is done. It’s both fascinating and terrifying.

“Lester!” he shouts, once he’s back through, “Has Stephen found us a mycologist yet?”

The man shakes his head, but Stephen’s grim smile suggests otherwise.

“They’re not familiar with anything like this,” Stephen says, “I told them I was working on a science fiction short story to throw them off.”

“Make sure nobody comes in, and  _ nobody _ who has had contact with this fungus leaves,” Lester growls. Stephen gives Connor a concerned look. Connor shrugs.

“I’m alright, Danny’s alright, Cutter and Azose aren’t even here to be worried about. I’m far more worried about Abby and Jenny and Becker, they’re still hunting the man who’s been exposed to this away from here, and they don’t have hazmat suits.”

* * *

Becker’s wince tells Abby he’s likely to be in pain. There’s a curious buzzing at the back of her head- the network’s not down, not entirely, just being suppressed, likely to avoid upsetting Cutter. There’s a lot of people here, and a little over a year ago she might have gladly chirped her way through the crowd, but she’s leeched enough from everyone else to feel that crowds are upsetting to Becker and Cutter and Stephen and Jenny and that gives her pause.

She sees Sir Richard in the corner of her eye. He’s- there’s something crawling up his neck, sick-looking and disgusting. He is sweaty and disheveled, but it’s clearly  _ him. _

Abby calls his name. Someone passes her line of sight, obscuring the man for only a moment, before passing, and then-

And Abby can’t see him any more.

Except she can, and they follow him, but there’s something greatly wrong with what’s going on. She can hear a sound, almost like a roar, coming from the alley. Something deep in the back of her head tells her it’s wise to start running and not to stop.

* * *

Something’s wrong. Again. Besides the whole ‘dangerous fungus’ thing. Danny’s wired up and on edge, but he doesn’t notice until it’s nearly too late, and Sarah screams at the both of them. Danny practically hauls Connor out of there by the scruff of his neck, running as fast as he can before the… thing- giant walking fungus- whatever it was- tries to attack them again. Because that’s what it’s doing. Danny barely manages to avoid tossing his lunch into the closest bin before the creature slams onto the wide glass window again.

“Let’s try baking it,” Stephen says, and  _ that _ doesn’t work.

“Alright, so what’s our Plan B?” Lester asks. Four pairs of eyes stare at him quizzically.

“Just… for once, it would be nice,” Lester sighs, and looks back to the creature. Danny doesn’t know what he means by ‘for once’, unless the stories that he hears from Rebecca secondhand are completely true with little embellishment.

“You know, I was going to ask,” Danny says, “I’m assuming there’s a difference between talking to someone about these things with someone else In The Know versus someone who isn’t.”

“Yes, we can’t exactly criminalize that,” Lester replies, “Everyone involved already knows. And if this is about Doctor Azose’s storytelling habit, Captain Becker has been monitoring that.”

“So, is there any truth to the gossip that the States are scrambling for their own team, now?”

Lester stares at him.

“I- how do you- Yes, in Boston-  _ I was not under the impression that- _ ”

“Oh, no, their boss- Hewitt, his name was- tried to call Rebecca a while back about something. Never called back, still don’t know what for, but she did some digging.”

It’s right then that the temperature finally climbs high enough- past the boiling point- that the creature  _ explodes. _

They need to help. Danny grabs a flamethrower, because if it can’t handle heat it certainly can’t handle fire, and gets mildly scolded by Lester.

He supposes he  _ is _ technically a criminal, but admitting that is admitting defeat and doing that in front of Lester practically straps a sign to his chest saying ‘dead man walking.’

And then, the team comes to his aid. First Connor, then Sarah, then Stephen. Lester grumbles about mutinies, but Danny just smiles. He’d heard someone describe them as just a bit feral, before, and Connor complaining about not getting to use the flamethrower certainly qualifies.

He’s sent out alone- Stephen is staying back as Connor’s assistant. He can handle this.

_ ‘You better come back alive,’ _ a voice he knows by now growls,  _ ‘Mum’s not too keen on seeing you carted out in a body bag.’ _

_ ‘Good luck to you too.’ _

* * *

Cutter isn’t particularly used to sitting around and doing nothing. He knows well enough that he needs to rest, he needs to do physical therapy, he needs to think about things that aren’t the ARC or anomalies or dinosaurs or Helen, but he’s invested in what happens to his little team, and the fact that he doesn’t  _ know _ what’s happening- in fact, that he’s actively being prevented from knowing what’s happening- is both infuriating and terrifying.

And so, he sits with a fellow professor (and Rebecca is lovely company- it’s nice to be able to discuss students and biology without risking the conversation veering back in the direction of anomalies) and the young doctor, and the three of them worry about Cutter’s team together, instead of alone. It’s a little bit nice, and a little bit infuriating, but Cutter can handle things being infuriating if it means that everyone is still alive and relatively well. He clings to that like a half-drowned man to a buoy, grasps at it like he can dig his claws into an idea instead of a real thing.

It’s all he has, right now.

* * *

Danny drives the fungus into the ARC, hops in the vehicle, and starts to drive.

He can practically hear the frustration coming from Lester, even though the phone is off and there’s no call taking place. He knows it’s half-baked and idiotic and dangerous, but the risk of getting anyone new infected is lower than it would be if they leave the damn thing here to let it infect more people, and so, Danny will gladly take the risk. Even if it means he’s going to be chewed out like he won’t believe when he finally gets back  _ properly. _

_ ‘I’m alright,’ _ he sends off,  _ ‘So is everyone else. For now, at least.’ _

And then, Jenny drops  _ that _ little bombshell.

“No offense, Danny, but there are only two people who would believe me, and one of them’s a maniac and the other’s in the hospital, so-”

And then they’re back in the ARC, and the creature’s out, and Danny’s fear and agitation levels spike so much at least one of the two moondancers has to soothe it, though he can’t quite tell which one, their signatures are so similar.

Danny grabs a fire extinguisher, and tries frantically to remember  _ something _ he’s been forgetting, something that tells him this would be over  _ fast- _

Jenny’s fighting the fungus with a fire extinguisher. That’s not something he sees every day. But she’s losing, fast, and Danny can’t remember what he’s missing, but-

_ ‘It’s not a word, it’s a  _ concept,’ Rebecca growls in the back of his head, and Danny grimaces, slamming down the door and  _ screaming _ at the thing and  _ pushing, _ because that’s what magic and conceptual mutations are, really, pushing your will outwards, and funnily enough, Danny has  _ both. _

He  _ pushes. _ And the thing freezes, and it shatters, but it’s gotten colder and colder and colder and Jenny is  _ dying _ and it’s  _ his fault. _

And then the fungus is gone, there’s that, but she doesn’t have a pulse, and even Sarah’s warming abilities can’t do anything, until they  _ can. _

There’s a faint, pulsing, angry desperate cry of  _ nonononono _ in the back of his head and Danny doesn’t know if it’s him or one of the telepaths, and frankly, he doesn’t care, because these are just as much  _ his _ people now as they are anyone else’s on the team, and he’ll cling to every one of them with as much strength as he can muster.

Fortunately, Lester agrees. Danny calls Cutter, that evening, and they have a  _ very _ long conversation. There’s a quiet understanding that the Professor is in no position to lead field teams anymore, not really, and even if he is once he finishes physical therapy, it’s going to take months until that happens. And so, at least temporarily, Danny takes his spot.

But for now, Danny walks over to the rest of the team- well, the rest of the team save the members that weren’t there for the fungus incident and aren’t Jenny- and asks for the latter.

And Jenny  _ leaves. _

He knows how hard it guts the rest of the team, when she does- he can feel it, new to the network as he is- but they respect her wishes, and cut her out of it.

“You’re going to have to tell Cutter yourself,” Danny overhears Connor saying, “You’re the first to  _ leave _ .”

Connor, speaking of which, is living in Lester’s spare flat now (unlike Stephen, who’s still doing live-in unpaid nanny duty). That’s… interesting.

He meets Cutter at the hospital, the next day, and the rest of the team proper the day after that. Shoshannah grins and shoulder-checks him, and perhaps, despite how  _ strange _ this all is, he can get used to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yup! danny's manifest-type magic, which means he wouldn't get picked up for anything when he was younger.


	8. back on top

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ft- these are titanis, rather than the unnamed terror birds from s3. also, team bonding!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second of the two chapters that are done

Shoshannah can feel when Jenny severs her connection to the rest of the network. It’s like losing a hand, almost, and she frantically begins to assemble the connections to connect to everyone else, because if the spiderweb is torn to shreds, then everything falls, but if it's laid back in on itself, then it will continue to hold steady.

The feelers, the strands of webbing that hang loose in the wind- she attaches most of them to Danny, who's new and has very few of them of his own, careful not to overlap them with the ones that connect him to her mother.

A single connection only needs a single strand, easy to establish and easy to sever, but for them- Shoshannah, Cutter, Abby, Connor, Stephen, Lester, (not Jenny anymore), Becker, Sarah, and now Danny, too- that needs  _ webbing,  _ and webbing needs maintenance. There are  _ nine _ of them, all put together. Ten if Jenny hadn't left, or if she ever comes back.

She fusses around in the back of her own head. Becker’s there with her, but this- connections, pack, team- that's her arena, no matter how much stronger he is than her at this.

She stitches the webbing up just right, runs lines back to everyone and between them. Calling her and Becker switchboard operators isn't inaccurate, not at all.

Shoshannah attaches the final two to Becker and herself, respectively, and re-opens the network.

She doesn't tell anyone, save Becker, about the quiet, underused line she's left between herself and Jenny.

_ ‘Just for emergencies,’ _ Shoshannah hums,  _ ‘Don't feel obligated.’ _

Jenny doesn't. Shoshannah knows this because she never replies.

When the network is back up, Shoshannah feels one thing rolling through more than anything else- concern.

Now that Jenny’s gone, the recipient of that concern has become Connor, the second most injured among them.

Danny is paternal in a way that nobody else seems to be, picking up some of them (usually Abby or Connor, Shoshannah’s gotten a tad too tall for it, now) by the collars, offering quiet advice, and generally not being the loud nuisance they'd expected him to be.

He's… actually  _ very _ gentle with all of them, now that she thinks about it. It's nice, not getting into constant fights with her mother’s current partner, and instead having him pull her  _ out  _ of them. Doesn't make it any less embarrassing when she realizes she's started subconsciously referring to him as “Dad”, but hey.

She's nearly eighteen, she needs to stop acting like she did when she was six, but Shoshannah accepts that getting angry with herself isn't going to change things.

* * *

Becker shuts himself off from the rest of the network during drills, because chances are, anyone trying to break into a facility with multiple telepaths wouldn't leave their mind open to that sort of thing. That doesn't stop him from catching Danny, who's somehow gotten better and better at eluding them (Becker thinks he might just be cheating, but Danny’s rather terrible at magic aside from the one freezing spell, so that's unlikely).

Something still feels off, wrong, like they're being watched- it’s felt that way since Danny joined the group over two months ago. Becker knows the feeling, but he's usually the watcher.

Becker’s glad, all of a sudden, that he'd never explained his telepathy to Captain Wilder, not in full or even in part, because he feels if Wilder knew, there would suddenly be a significantly higher number of anti-telepathy cuffs being worn about by some. There's already one or two- likely to avoid the young doctor, who’s come back with a vengeance and a desire to actually do something (which means extra telepathy lessons and some combat training with that bat of hers), but there'd be more if Wilder caught wind of an  _ adult, well-trained _ telepath lurking about the ARC.

The network’s back up. Funnily enough, there's something else, too- a group chat. Danny set it up, if he remembers correctly. They're currently all ribbing Stephen on his ‘absolute piece of shit with a heart of gold’ persona. Becker takes a glance, and smiles brightly.

* * *

Connor is… relatively calm about things, all things considered. He's still technically flatmates with Lester (a situation that's really not working out as well as either of them had hoped, and now that Danny’s moved in with the Azoses for the sake of ‘Convenience’ amd reports that there is  _ absolutely zero space left _ , that really only leaves Cutter’s flat (where he wouldn't be welcome), staying with Becker (who Connor knows would tolerate him, though perhaps not well) or continuing to make it work at Lester’s flat and making himself useful. He chooses the last avenue, at least for now- it's the least risky route, especially since he and Sarah have finally seemed to figure out a way to get the artifact to unlock, once and for all.

One excited call to Cutter, later, half-screaming in delight, Connor falls back against the desk with the  _ biggest _ smile. Maybe, just maybe, like with how they found Danny, they can act ahead of time, put themselves in  _ front  _ of the anomalies, not behind them, prevent mass loss of life like the Giganotosaurus incident (even with the relatively easy job of convincing her for a creature that large, the Giga had still managed to eat at least two people that they know of and scare a seasoned biologist into silence, and mangle the latter’s left arm up to the elbow so badly he's still in a cast), maybe they can solve mysteries of sorts before they ever even begin to happen.

Connor smiles. It looks like it might be a good day, for once, a day where nobody ends up dead and the detector doesn't go off and enemies don't suddenly appear from the woodwork like they've always been there. Connor thinks that he’s jinxed it, before long, when the other side of the day decides to hit them all with the most massive of whallops and refuses to take no for an answer. In the latter half of the day, had it not been for the rest of the team, Connor might have curled up and cried. Fortunately, he does have the rest of the team.

It doesn't stop the day from going to absolute shit.

* * *

Panic, panic, panic, panic,  _ panic. _

It's the only thing Shoshannah can feel along the edges of the network, from everyone there. Shoshannah can feel the artifact through the long bag she holds against her chest. She knows that if they crash or if someone finds them, it's her job as the sole shape-changer to shift and start running and not to stop, but, but, but-

She doesn't realize she's hyperventilating until a hand lands on her shoulder and pulls her out of it. It's Danny, of course.

“Thanks, Da-anny,” she says, correcting at the last second, glad his name starts with the correct syllable to pass it off as an honest mistake, but it's blatantly clear to everyone what she was actually going to say. Shoshannah curls up and prepares for the teasing she's inevitably going to face, calling a teammate  _ ‘Dad’,  _ of all things.

It never comes.

Shoshannah feels the urge to check her ears and her head, but no, there's no light ribbing from Danny about how he's not  _ that  _ old (even though he's a full year older than her mum), no roll from Stephen’s eyes or squeak of quiet laughter from Abby.

They don't say anything, actually. Shoshannah thinks they might not have actually heard. She pulls the artifact even tighter to her chest, and fills her lungs, deeply.

_ ‘Who can run better than a human can?’ _ Shoshannah asks herself. The answer, deep down, is just above none. On foot, practically nothing can outrun a member of the species  _ Homo Sapiens _ over distance, the only race that really matters, now.

Practically nothing. That doesn't mean  _ nothing. _

Dogs. Specifically, sled dogs. Even more specifically, Alaskan Huskies, the real Olympic athletes of the animal kingdom.

Shoshannah’s met Alaskan Huskies before. She can do this. She  _ can.  _ She's a Moondancer, she's born to run and run and run on a full moon night until her heart just about bursts right out of her chest.

She can  _ do this. _

Gold flashes behind her eyes, a backlight against them, like her eye-shine is furiously attempting to escape. Right now, if someone looked at her, they would not see a  _ human,  _ that much is for certain.

Good. Shoshannah needs intimidation to be able to pull something like this off  _ properly. _

* * *

There's a quiet growling from the middle seat. Stephen looks over from the right window, Abby looks over from the very back, Connor looks over his shoulder and Sarah looks to her right to stare at the small bundle of mild rage in the middle of the vehicle.

Good. They're all angry. At least if she’s pissy enough to be gripping the artifact like a small child and growling at nothing, she’ll be put together enough to protect it, when the time comes.

Sarah thinks it  _ might  _ not be the best idea to give the volatile mutant access to their current most valuable possession, but that isn't the end of the world. Johnson getting a hold of it, though? That might actually be the end of the world.

The pyrokinetic pokes the Moondancer once, twice, three times. Shoshannah finally snaps out of it enough to begin clinging to the backs of their heads, instead. They all jolt- the car swerves- at the sudden onslaught of panic and anger and desire for retribution- but once she mellows out a tad, it's actually rather nice. Sarah tosses her cellphone out the window with minimal fuss, but brings up a good point to everyone in the car once their resident telepath settles down just a little bit.

“What about Becker?”

“He's not really still there, yeah, but if you think he’d sell us out-”

“Becker might make the wrong choice if he thinks it’s in our best interest. Shut him out,” Danny barks. Shoshannah scrunches her nose up.

“You're not getting what I'm saying, here-”

“I understand perfectly well, he needs to be shut out of the network temporarily before we can be sure he won't make the wrong decision-”

“You're not  _ listening to me-” _ Shoshannah shouts, and the van goes quiet, “Becker  _ already _ shut  _ himself _ out. The connection’s not severed, not completely, just sort of… handed over. Anything that would go to him goes through me, first.”

“Oh,” Danny replies, “That’s- good thinking, that.”

“Yes, Becker does tend to have good ideas like that one,” Shoshannah replies airily, and Sarah winces. This is going to be the start of a  _ long _ drive, especially if the hastily covered-up  _ ‘Dad’ _ is any indicator.

“Truce?” and that's a good thing, Sarah supposes, because Shoshannah laughs and nods and clutches the artifact even tighter.

“Wouldn't it be- wouldn't it be the funniest thing, if there was an anomaly where we’re going?”

Sarah thinks this may be what curses their luck.

* * *

Danny hears the aborted ‘Dad’, and resolves to be as Dad-like for the rest of however long they're stuck there to confirm his suspicions. Aside from the kicking down the door, he acts as archetypal protector, setting up trip wires and laying down encouragement and shooting a smile at anyone who needs a bit of a pick-me-up. Danny thinks it might just be working, actually. They find a dead body, sure, but that's par for the course with this team, if anything, and the more entertaining thing by far is the old-fashioned music and evening wear, still in incredible condition. There's a quiet argument over who gets the spare black tuxedo jacket between Connor and Shoshannah “a dress would quite literally give me hives” Azose, with the latter acquiescing that her bulletproof vest looks like evening wear anyways, and bringing the clothing article out.

Danny was definitely not aware of this, but it checks out just fine with what else he knows about the team, the real only odd thing being the fact that any one of them could  _ afford _ a bulletproof vest. He knows Rebecca’s tenure pays better than this job ever will, and more stability, too.

It's when they're dancing, that they hear the call, that the trip wire goes off, that the  _ anomaly _ appears, and wow, he'd thought Sarah was joking when she said Shoshannah had jinxed them with her anomaly joke but no, apparently not-

The excited screech of “YES” from the young doctor isn't expected either, but it's the furthest thing from unwelcome that Danny’s heard this entire trip.

Right. Archosauriparhy.

Danny’s under the impression that this might be the first time any of them have seen their youngest member use her ability for what it’s most dearly meant for:

Negotiating with birds.

* * *

Shoshannah could cry with joy when she can scramble out exactly what the bird on the tape is saying (well, it's wailing with pain, that's not good, but the fact that she can translate is the best among those things).

The terror birds- she doesn't know what species, not exactly, but they're practically scaled-up versions of her beloved Secretarybirds.  _ Titanis,  _ perhaps?

One of the birds, a large male with speckled plumage, drops his heavy head into her hands, and coos when she sinks her hands into his feathers.

“You're not so scary, are you?” she asks, “You're confused, and  _ hungry _ , but you know quite well this place isn't good for you. Now, we need to get you back through before the men hunting us try hunting you as well.”

The Titanis pulls his massive beak from her grasp, and stares.

_ “You would have us retreat like cowards while your own flock faces danger? I will not have it!” _

Shoshannah can't help it. She smiles broadly, and giggles.

“Yes!” she shouts, and does a funny little dance, before realizing how that sounds- “Yes, we’d love your help, if you'd be willing to offer it.”

_ “Of course, yearling.” _

“I'm seventeen.”

_ “Old enough to fight but not all the way grown? You are a yearling.” _

“Thank you. I'm happy to act as translator, so we all understand what we’re looking for.”

_ “We are not simply killing everyone in our path? Beyond the Fiery One, I see none of your flock who are particularly intimidating, and I suspect your enemies are the same.” _

“They are, but they also have firearms. So, there's that.”

_ “Fire… arms?” _

“They make small rocks go so fast they can kill someone.”

_ “Ah. We need a plan, then.” _

* * *

Danny’s never going to get used to that.

They're terrified of the birds one minute, scared out of their minds and listening to the chattering, to the clucking, that reminds Danny a bit of being young and listening to hawks in the woods, and then-

And then they're teaming up with the terror birds. They're not as ugly as Danny would have suspected them to be, just listening to the sounds they make. Their feathers gleam from right at he edges of their enormous beaks right down to where scale meets feather on their feet and their absurd, duck-like tails. They remind him of birds of prey- not surprising- though specifically which kind, he doesn't know what-

“Caracara.”

That's Connor, not their resident ornithologist.

“You've got a look on your face like you're trying to figure out what they remind you of. They look like-”

“Like the world’s biggest crested caracaras,” Shoshannah hums, a broad smile across her face.

Danny grins, and they begin to discuss the Plan.

* * *

The Plan is absolutely batshit, which is why Stephen adores it. It features eight Titanis and six humans and the agreement that neither will bother the other once this is done.

Stephen is officially planning something out with a bird that has theoretically been dead for over a million years. He might actually cry of joy.

The lead Titanis pair are on the other side of the anomaly, meaning the second eldest pair is who they discuss everything with, now. Stephen can't help but catalogue everything about the birds in the back of his head, but in short, The Plan goes like such:

The Titanis are there for distraction purposes  _ only. _ They will run back to the anomaly if they need to back out, but they won't, because that’s really not the kind of birds that  _ Terror Birds _ are. It's purely in the name- they're masters of intimidation. There’s something particularly morbid in seeing the list of Soldiers They Are Not Allowed To Eat and knowing that most of whoever they send is probably not going to be a member of this category.

But, of course, the plan goes to shit as soon as anything happens, because of course there’s a minefield right next to the little cabin in the woods holding an anomaly filled with killer avians as one of its many secrets, and of course people die because of course they drive over a landmine. The death toll from the Titanis is still zero, if Stephen remembers correctly- no, wait, it’s one, a soldier who’d gotten a beak through the spine for shooting one of the juveniles in the leg. The death toll from the landmines is at  _ least _ five from the car and the poor juvenile (the same injured one, too slow to react) that ran right over one. The second in command pair grit their metaphorical teeth and get angrier.

They manage to chase off Johnson’s cronies rather quickly, all things considered. The lead pair consider it a job rather well done, and shudder at the thought of explosives in the future, but bow out with grace Stephen really hadn't thought possible for birds whose skulls are heavier than an axe.

And of course, Becker’s there as soon as the Titanis are through.

Stephen sees Shoshannah move to start running. She's already halfway out before Becker’s dragging her back by the scruff of her neck and throwing her in with the rest of them.

“You're looking at a very serious charge of stealing government property,” Johnson says, and Stephen can  _ see _ the held-back growl.

And then, Becker comes through. Well, Lester  _ and _ Becker come through.

Stephen holds back a grin, then.

And then, the bubble bursts.

* * *

Becker feels a  _ rush _ as the network comes back to him. There are a great number of emotions that roll through it, but there’s one that sticks out above the rest-

Well, one  _ type. _

_ ‘You're a good friend, Becker,’ _ and ‘ _ we knew you were a loyal one’  _ and  _ ‘I'm not going to pretend we weren't frightened there for a little bit but let’s be honest it was more about losing a good friend and a person we all care about quite a bit to Johnson over any fear for ourselves.’ _

The last one brings just a hint of a smile to his face, and Becker gives Stephen a loose one-armed hug as they make their way down the stairs. Johnson leaves, the clapping begins, and Becker feels his feet leave the ground (that must be Azose, nobody else on the team has the physical strength required to do that). There's a wild, half-feral laugh from most of the scientists, and Becker is struck once again by how  _ right  _ it feels to be here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there shalt be terror birds again soon enough... and i'm not telling bc that's spoilers but it's weirder than the molly-club  
> also- the weird time stretches are so i can have more space to match up this and TVOK. there are several months between s2 and s3 in this fic, along with at least a few months between 3.2 and 3.3, a few weeks between 3.3 and 3.4, a while (several weeks) between 3.4 and 3.5, at least two months between 3.5 and 3.6, and less than two days between 3.6 and 3.7 because of what happens in canon.


	9. myth and legend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> literally just that one scene from brooklyn nine-nine and also what happens in ep 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love to write. p sure this is obvious

There’s a  _ very _ large wolf on the couch. Well, not quite a wolf. Danny knows the massive paws and retractable claws and tremendous capacity for running well enough to know exactly who this is.

“Budge over,” he tells Shoshannah, who whines, but moves over good-naturedly, wagging her tail.

“Not feeling like we can human today?” he asks, and the wolf nods.

_ ‘Can't do two legs. Everything hurts.’ _ Danny doesn’t feel like replying in his head, so he sits back on the couch and begins what must seem to anyone else like a one-sided conversation.

“And we’re sure that's not a fixable issue? I was under the impression both of us have work today and considering how thin the ice we’re all on is-”

_ ‘Already said. I don't know what it is, just that it doesn't hurt as much when I'm on four legs.’ _

“Back? Human spines are  _ terrible, _ I speak from experience. Same with hips and knees.”

_ ‘Yeah, that fits.’ _

“Alright, you call Lester and we calculate your ibuprofen dosage by weight, then.”

_ ‘Already did, I'm sitting on the couch until I feel it's safe to try two legs again.’ _

“Isn't that poisonous to canids, though?”

_ ‘Yes, but not to me.’ _

“Fair enough point. You think you can switch back now?”

“Yeah,” Shoshannah replies. She's already dressed for the day, if a bit helter-skelter about it, and Danny’s weirdly proud of her for at least trying to tough it out, minimal though it may seem.

“Alright, then, let’s get going,” Danny says. Shoshannah whistles, and a blue blur lurches through the air. Danny raises an eyebrow.

“You're bringing the raptor?”

“She’s a bit like an extra mascot, isn't she?” Shoshannah jokes in reply, lifting up the Deinonychus who’s apparently finally stopped growing. Her blue feathers, spotted with black, practically glow with health, and Danny admits if the ARC was going to pick a mascot, she’d certainly give Rex quite the fight.

Aya is a good-natured creature, who has something of a temporary dog bed in Lester’s office or in the corner of the main room where she sits and looks regal during the day. She’s gotten so used to everyone that some of the other team members don't always need Shoshannah to step in as translator- instead, they know when to back off and give her space and when she’s hungry and when she might just need to be alone for a while.

In a way, quite specifically, Aya is not tame or domesticated- instead, she is a part of the team. A volatile part of the team that everyone regards with the respect she, as an apex predator, deserves, but a part of the team that can be reasoned with nonetheless. There’s a language barrier, obviously, but she’s perfectly happy to listen, and Shoshannah can always translate.

Shoshannah sets the raptor down when Danny gives her a  _ look _ that screams ‘try your best to act casually’. Aya steps happily into their wake, chirping about things that Shoshannah must find  _ hilarious _ because she’s laughing all the way to the ARC, the Deinonychus taking up most of the room in the backseat of the car, shaking with what’s laughter for her, too.

* * *

“You alright?” a voice asks him. Danny’s head turns towards Abby (who doesn’t seem that alright herself, but she could always be needling at someone else just to ignore her own issues). She must have noticed his yawn- he  _ is _ exhausted- because she seems more concerned than usual.

“Yeah, m’fine,” Danny responds. Abby grins.

“Trying to figure out how best to act like a dad, yeah?” she hums. Danny grins, and nods at her to continue with whatever point she was trying to make.

“You clearly adore her mother, which is why she’s been warming up to you. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing- she clearly thinks of you as her da, or the closest thing she’s going to get to one.”

Danny shrugs.

“Hey, did you get my paperwork on the whole issue with the Dimorphodon last week?” Shoshannah asks, not looking up from her desk. Danny did, in fact- though almost all paperwork passes straight to Lester after going through him.

“Yes, I got it, nice work,” he replies, barely paying attention.

“Good. Thanks, Dad.”

Everyone freezes. David hides the quiet victory move well, he thinks, before turning back to the youngest member of the team, who’s staring at the rest of the bullpen curiously.

“What?”

“You finally called Danny ‘Dad’, that’s what,” Stephen says, leaning forwards. Shoshannah shifts uncomfortably, and stares at Danny with a ‘please help me’ expression. Danny doesn’t feel like being helpful, today.

“Do you see me as a father figure, Shoshannah?”

“No,” she says, averting her eyes, the key trait of a lying liar who lies, “If anything, I see you as a  _ bother _ figure. Because you’re bothering me.”

Danny is  _ not _ going to let this go that easily, but unfortunately, the detector interrupts them.

* * *

“So, what’s pissed you off?” Shoshannah asks Abby. The former zookeeper narrows her eyes.

“What makes you think I’m angry?” Abby asks, hand on her hip. Shoshannah snorts.

_ ‘You remember I’m literally in your head a third of the time, yeah?’ _ the Moondancer asks. Abby doesn’t laugh like she normally would. Instead, she puts her head against the window and sighs, deeply.

_ ‘Go ahead, you need practice, anyways.’ _

Shoshannah leans into her, light brown eyes flaring gold at the invitation.

Jack, she decides, is an idiot, and as stubborn as an ass, and  _ clearly _ lying. She can see the agreement in Abby’s eyes when she pulls away, and in the way the woman grits her teeth together.

_ ‘What  _ are _ we talking about?’ _ Danny asks jovially, leaning partially over the passenger seat with a bright smile. Abby glares, and retreats back into herself.

_ ‘Let’s just get the job done, and then we can go worry about Rex, yeah?’ _ Shoshannah hums,  _ ‘I’ll help you threaten your brother’s friend, if you want. I grew like seven centimeters over the last two weeks, you remember.’ _

Abby  _ does _ remember. They’ve all made the joke once or twice that Shoshannah’s been growing like a weed ever since she’d arrived at the ARC, starting somewhere around a hundred and sixty-four centimeters and now standing closer to a hundred and eighty-two, nearly as tall as Becker or Danny.

That, combined with the bat, brings the chances of actually intimidating Jack’s friend into giving Rex back up by a significant margin.

Especially if she brings the raptors, though Abby knows Lester will never allow it, no matter how many times the man has openly voiced the dearest wish that he could scare at least a few politicians into giving them all much better funding.

“The American team doesn’t have to deal with this,” she’d heard him muttering, once, “Because their government is filled with children entertained with the mere thought of tyrannosaurs.”

Abby’s been hearing a lot about the Americans lately, but she supposes that the ARC team is a bunch of children entertained by the mere thought of tyrannosaurs as well- Connor chief among them.

“So, when do you think this one is?” Danny asks. Stephen, from the other window, glares at Danny for breaking the silence while Sarah glares from the driver’s seat.

“I'm betting Mesozoic,” Abby says, “We’re due.”

“The Dimorphodon were from the Jurassic, though,” Shoshannah points out. Abby shakes her head.

“The Dimorphodon were hold-overs, not a recent anomaly- a bit like the Smilodon and the Camo Beast. They don't count. I'm betting Cretaceous, we haven't had a Cretaceous anomaly since you showed up.”

“That's a fair point,” Shoshannah hums., “Didn’t you all get, what- Permian, Carboniferous, Cretaceous, Modern, Cretaceous, Future-Permian? That’s what Cutter told me, at least.”

Abby frowns.

“That’s not what happened, not quite- we had a good few more than those, and there was a greater spread of time between the Dodo Incident and the pterosaurs, that was when we moved into the ARC.”

“Well, if the Future-Permian anomaly was when the timeline shifted, that would make sense,” Stephen interjects, “He’s been on about it too long to be lying, and we  _ do _ work with time travel.”

_ ‘And Helen confirmed it,’  _ Connor chirps from the other car.

“And Helen confirmed it,” Stephen notes with a solemn nod.

Nobody’s going to mention the fact that there’s a suspicious absence, it feels like, without Cutter here while they’re talking about  _ his _ time travel experience. Abby can  _ feel _ Shoshannah reaching out and bringing the man back into the fold.

_ ‘I hear you’ve been talking about me?’ _ Cutter hums. Abby can feel his amusement, too.

_ ‘Ah, is this the man I took half the job of?’ _ Danny jokes right back. The amusement spikes, for a single moment. Abby thinks Cutter might be laughing.

_ ‘Eh, plan to keep it. I won’t be up for the kind of activity that field work takes, but once I’m back, do expect me to be involved from the ARC.’ _

_ ‘We’ll be sure to all chip in and get you a comfortable chair,’ _ Stephen drawls. Abby remembers the last two times that the whole team chipped in- an extra prosthetic for Stephen, just in case (the pay is a joke, after all), and the bulletproof vest that Shoshannah still wears most of the time she’s in the ARC.

Cutter seems to begin pulling away. Danny tugs him back, indicating that they’re close.

_ ‘We could need your help,’ _ he says,  _ ‘Might as well get used to being the man in the chair again, yeah?’ _

“Just  _ call _ him, Becker and I can’t keep the network running non-stop and be on top of our game for whatever’s here at the same time. We’re telepaths, not  _ miracle-workers, _ Dad,” Shoshannah bites. Danny offers a grin at that, Abby covers her mouth to hide her grin, and Shoshannah rolls her eyes and launches herself out the door once it’s open.

* * *

_ “You’d be a good older sister, wouldn’t you?” _

The thought reverberates through Shoshannah’s head, even as she moves to calm down the  _ Dracorex. _ She should have figured her mum would bring it up- she’s been dating Danny for a few months, now (at least half a year, last she remembers), and while it's not long, it's longer than she’s dated anyone else since Shosh’s bio dad stopped showing up for visits, and it’s not the first time the older woman has confided in Shoshannah that she wishes the younger hadn’t been an only child, so it would be about the time for a “do you want kids/more kids” conversation.

Shoshannah knows her answer- that it’s her mother and Danny’s decision,  _ not _ hers, and that she supports them in their choices (but that she wouldn’t mind doting on a much younger sibling). She’s  _ seventeen. _ She’s not a toddler that whines over her mother’s attention going to someone else. Shoshannah’s always known her mother would procure an additional baby from somewhere or pester her for grandchildren.

Of course, it  _ does _ bring up the old round of ‘ _ you’re not good enough, you don’t belong here’ _ , but Shoshannah will fight that brain gremlin of hers until it bleeds to death from her teeth and claws.

Shoshannah pushes it all to the side, in the back of her head, where nobody else will overhear her, and sets her eyes on doing her job.

Someone’s gotta do it, after all.

_ “What the FUCK is going on?” _ The Dracorex wails. Shoshannah shushes the creature, strokes between the horns on her head, feels the little bumps of protofeathers in her sides.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she says, and reaches out. The dinosaur startles, and rears back, and snaps at Shoshannah’s hands.

She can  _ feel _ Dad- Danny-  _ damnit- _ freaking out in the back of her head, can see when they decide to start making noise to send it back. Shoshannah reaches out with her own mind, can see flashes of things that  _ shouldn’t be there _ . The dinosaur’s head is new and strange and yet not new and strange whatsoever, and it’s so much easier to work with her head than it is to work with a human one. It’s like-

It’s like they’re speaking the same language. Which they  _ are _ . Shoshannah wonders what would happen if she put on limiters- would she really lose this, or would she lose the ability to speak English or any other human language, instead?

The Dracorex comes back through, terrified out of her mind. Shoshannah follows on instinct, great paws reaching on and on over the earth. She can smell horse and hear hooves behind her, but she’s focused on her goal.

She matches pace with the Dracorex, and runs as far as her legs can take her.

* * *

“That’s not good,” Becker mutters. Everyone else turns to him.

“We’ve established that,” Danny snarks.

“No, this is  _ really _ not good. What, exactly, would seeing a wolf the size of a small horse say to a medieval knight?” he responds.

“Oh no,” says Stephen.

“Oh no,” says Abby.

“Oh no,” says Sarah.

“Oh  _ no _ ,” says Connor.

“I'm calling Becca,” says Danny, “I'm not letting her hear about this secondhand after one of us lets it slip.”

For not the first time, Becker’s glad that  _ some _ magical folk have seen it fitting to embrace the wonders of technology, because he’s met the traditionalist sort before and is of the opinion that even trying to get them to use a phone like Danny is doing or wear a tracking device like Shoshannah is would be like pulling teeth.

Well, the tracking device makes sense, he supposes, but  _ she’s _ at least been mildly gracious about their fussing.

Becker and Abby and Stephen all climb into the same car to go chasing after the Dracorex. The fact that all of the crying and screaming seems to be about a very large dog, rather than  _ what the fuck is that thing _ , seems promising enough.

Shoshannah’s sitting in the middle of a strawberry field, panting happily, long wolf’s tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth. Beside her, calmed down but clearly still disoriented, is the Dracorex.

_ “Did I do good?” _ she asks in the unnerving voice that’s still clearly hers coming from the massive wolf.

Abby fires the tranquilizer, and Becker offers a thumbs-up.

* * *

Connor jolts at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder, and relaxes when he realizes it’s only Rebecca.

And then, he panics again, because Rebecca’s  _ not supposed to be here. _

“Figured you two would have some trouble,” the Moondancer says, concern in her eyes. Danny smiles, clearly relieved. Connor feels the odd sensation of someone else working their way into the network, but doesn’t fight it, instead making way as the connection strengthens with braided loops.

“It’s just temporary, but you’ll likely need help to insure that everyone’s not panicking,” Shoshannah’s mother hums, “Besides, if he accidentally infects someone with smallpox, one of my old friends runs an epidemiology lab and can at least get us cowpox samples to protect the general population.”

Connor blinks, wide-eyed, and turns back to her.

“Didn’t Lester say-”

“That he was working on getting us clearance to be immunized for smallpox, yeah,” Danny replies, “Something about what Helen told the Yank team.”

“Could be talking about this,” Rebecca says, worrying at one of the many cord bracelets around her wrist, the ones that get pushed up to be shown off when the professor wears a falconry glove, before looking down and glaring at a pigeon, “Sorry, we don’t have any translators here.”

The pigeon- a brown and white feral rock dove, to be precise- cocks its head to the side, and pecks at Rebecca’s feet.

“I do have food, but I don’t speak pigeon, I’m afraid,” the professor hums, before turning back to the two men, “Danny, you remember how Shoshannah’s been dragging us to feed and talk to the pigeons for the last several months, yeah?”

Danny blinks with surprise.

“That’s  _ brilliant. _ ”

Rebecca winces.

“Not so much when we don’t have anyone to act as the go-between, but I’ll let her stay with anyways,” she hums. The pigeon makes a beeline for Connor’s shoulder, cooing.

“Let’s find our knight in scratched-up armor, shall we?” Danny chirps, clapping his hands together.

* * *

Shoshannah can still feel Sarah, in the back of her head, but it feels… off. She tries her best to help Abby while pondering this problem. The temperature in the room drops several degrees while her hands heat, and she stands by to offer cauterization if Abby needs it.

Sarah snaps back and races towards them. Shoshannah grins, flashing fangs as she shifts back to fur.

She misses half the conversation in that, but Sarah grins and hangs up, ruffling the fur behind the wolf’s ears.

“Sounds like your mum is with them. Let’s go get them, yeah?”

_ “Let’s,” _ Shoshannah replies, tail wagging high.  _ “Pretty sure at least one of the Network can tell me where they are.” _

“Really. What’s the Network?” Sarah asks. A pigeon lands on top of Shoshannah’s hackles and starts to kick up a fuss.

_ “They’re heading for the Roosting Place, hurry, hurry!” _ the pigeon coos, scratching at her fur. Shoshannah shakes herself to dislodge the bird, and offers a grin filled with teeth.

_ “Thank you so much! You’re first in the bread line,” _ she barks in response. The pigeon fluffs himself up with pride and coos again, before taking flight towards the old ruined church.

* * *

The rolling sense of melancholy nearly takes her aback, at first. Rebecca locks eyes with Danny and bumps his shoulder with her own, a reassurance that neither of them are alone in this desolate place.

A pigeon- speckled white- lands on one of the walls, coos, and flies back the way it came. One of Shosh’s many new minions, most likely.

“I recognize that one,” Danny mutters under his breath, so quiet that if Rebecca’s hearing wasn’t as good as it is, she likely wouldn’t have picked it up.

“I do too,” she says. They’re close enough that the knight picks his head up. Rebecca’s eyes go to the sword on instinct, and she stiffens.

“Hey,” she says, hands up. She knows Danny would lead in softly, too, but Rebecca’s still got more crisis negotiation training than Danny does under her belt, and she thinks this is a  _ crisis,  _ certainly.

“Are you the devil’s champion?” he asks. Danny starts-

“No, and you’re not in hell, either,” he replies. Rebecca shoots him a glare- quick movements are  _ not good. _

That’s about when the fight starts. Rebecca may have enhanced healing and strength that no human could ever match, but she’s a crap fighter if she can’t use magic of any kind, and so she helps Danny evade, because out of the two of them, he’s the one with actual hand-to-hand experience.

Mostly, she just tries to avoid getting hit, and stall for time.

She hears the frantic barking that signals that Shoshannah’s here- her daughter has always used her human form first and her wolf form second and practically none other if she can help it, and Rebecca does blame herself a little bit for that- and okay, this is  _ not  _ the time to get philosophical-

She grabs another one of the metal stakes- or, at least, what she thinks is one. Something flies down from the hill, something actually useful.

A staff. A proper wooden staff, the only weapon Rebecca’s  _ ever _ shown any promise in, though it’s still not much, and not enough against a well-trained sword user. So Rebecca blocks, and listens.

Sarah comes to her rescue, thankfully. Rebecca owes her dearly. Maybe she’ll intimidate some of the archaeology professors into giving Sarah better research supplies.

Rebecca eyes the sword, and the knight, and Sarah, and the sword again. Shoshannah does none of this, instead immediately rushing the man and getting the hilt of the sword to her head for her troubles.

“Ow,” her daughter says, shaking herself off once she shifts back, before snarling and leaping, skin and clothes and hair shifting to feathers and beak and claws on the way.

“I’m already aware I can’t fight for shit, Danny, no need to rub it in,” Rebecca groans, before shifting into her own feathered skin- the first hawk she’d ever worked with, a Harris Hawk by the name of Merry. Her eyes are sharp, but she’s not quick enough to get there before Danny does.

“Well, I see you managed to get here first,” she grumbles, and hauls the knight up onto his feet. Shoshannah, in her osprey-shape, cocks her head to the side.

The knight walks through the anomaly. Rebecca listens to the warm voices behind her joke happily with each other. She can taste the relief in the air. Danny and Shoshannah each toss an arm around her shoulders.

The smile slips from her daughter’s face as she listens, and stalks off.

“You know, I do believe she promised to threaten someone,” Abby hums behind them. Rebecca frowns, and turns. Shoshannah’s already run off.

“Should we try to find our daughter before she accidentally maims someone?” Danny chuckles. Rebecca won’t needle him for the slip, but he notices anyways, and smiles sheepishly.

“Let’s,” Rebecca replies.

* * *

“So, what’s the plan?” Shoshannah asks, practically bouncing in the middle seat as they park in front of the reptile thief’s house.

“Eh, you four just stand there and look intimidating,” Connor replies, “It shouldn’t take much time, but I kind of want to make an entrance.”

“I respect that,” Becker hums. They all pile out, and Connor goes to ring the doorbell. Becker doesn’t quite hear what words are exchanged, but the shit-eating grin that Connor wears for the rest of the day suggests that it was something appropriately awesome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the next chapter, shoshannah refers to him as "dad" just as often as she calls him "danny", if not more. once the dam has been burst there is no going back. i love writing characters that attach themselves to the first person who might be receptive to being considered a father figure.


	10. buzz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3x08, + several more chapters!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmm... this took not very long

Shoshannah officially hates sitting on everyone’s lap in the truck, or in the bed, or on the floor, but she’s the only one of the three that theoretically fits. Becker grumbles a bit about dog hair on everything he owns, but doesn’t kick up much of a fuss- not as much as he would if Zehavi revealed herself from behind the proverbial curtain. Shoshannah’s only known she’s there recently, but it’s painfully obvious now that she does.

“Be glad Stephen’s taking care of Cutter right now,” Shoshannah says, “Or we’d be seven to a five person car and believe me, I’m not going to sit in the truck bed when  _ Dad’s _ driving.”

“You said it again,” Sarah replies absently. Shoshannah shrugs her shoulders expressively when Danny turns back to her.

“I’ll remind you that you can  _ fly _ ,” the man grumbles. Mina, the pigeon that’s attached herself quite firmly to Connor, the little traitor, coos in protest.

_ “You want us to be exhausted trying to keep up with your crazy driving?” _ she asks,  _ “You may not be able to understand me, mister, but I can understand  _ you _.’ _

“Thank you, Mina, for the excellent commentary that nobody but you and I can appreciate,” Shoshannah tells the pigeon, who fluffs herself up dramatically.

Danny grabs her by the back of her shirt and tugs her back, moments before a pair of brightly colored cars flash across her vision.

“Don’t tell me I have to re-instruct you on looking both ways before you cross the street,” Danny needles. Shoshannah huffs, and twists, and shifts, leaving Danny with an osprey’s talons digging into his arm.

“Fine,” the man says, and releases her. Both Shoshannah and Mina follow them as they make their way to the anomaly.

Mina glares at the anomaly, and fluffs up her feathers again, this time in distaste. Shoshannah supposes that makes sense- nobody knows how pigeons find their way home, but there’s a suspicion that magnetism is involved, and for someone who navigates like that, dealing with abnormalities in the Earth’s magnetic fields must be a nightmare and a half.

She changes forms back to human, re-adjusting the tie around her neck and fiddling with the embroidery at the bottom of her vest. It’s fresh, because the vest is new, and that means spending three hours stitching feathers into innocuous places so that her magic will see it as  _ hers. _

(Moondancers take a long, long time to go through clothing. Unless they Forget.)

“Let’s find it. And careful, eh?” Danny says. Shoshannah wishes she’d brought her bat- that would be more useful than this.

It’s a giant insect, apparently. Shoshannah curses. She  _ really _ wishes she’d brought her bat with her from the car.

Then, she smacks her head, and  _ reaches _ out.

The bat nearly smacks Danny on the back of the head, but Shoshannah manages to smack the creature over the head. It bounces with the force of the hit, smacking right into the windshield of a speeding car. Shoshannah throws up a barrier, just in time- enough to keep the juices from hitting the both of them.

“That is one  _ serious _ ant,” Danny says. Sarah whines. Shoshannah mimes gagging, before staring directly into the bucket of bug juice.

“Connor?”

“There’s nothing like it in the fossil record,” their current closest thing to an evolutionary biologist says.

“Well, whatever it is, or was-”

“Or will be,” Shoshannah cuts in, “We’ve dealt with future creatures before, there’s no reason to assume they’d only be mammals.”

“Or will be,” Danny concedes with a nod of his head, “I don’t want another one coming through the anomaly.”

They scatter, for a moment, before Danny calls them back. Shoshannah takes a moment to loom- they’re the same height, now, which is giving her the kind of confidence that she’s not always used to having.

“So, what are we doing for the rest of the day, Dad?” she asks. Danny’s grin widens.

“Well, since your mother’s got the day filled,” he says, “I was thinking we could do something nice for her. Make dinner, clean the house, et cetera.”

“We already do that, though,” Shoshannah replies, confused, “I cook, you clean, the trio tries not to make a mess-”

“Which is why I thought this time, we should do something a little bit different,” Danny replies, “For example- chocolate covered pretzels?”

“Oh, homemade chocolate covered anything would definitely be appreciated. It’s super easy to make, too, come on, I’ll show you how!”

* * *

“Well, this isn’t good,” Stephen says, staring at the Diictodon. Connor’s look, in reply, is pleading. Lester’s devolved into yelling, which is also not good because the three of them had migrated to the flat instead of the house so that the kids wouldn’t get into the important things.

There’s panic, on the edge of Connor’s head. Stephen cocks his own, and says hello, worming his way in like he’s walked through a door and is going to sit down and have a cuppa, don’t mind him.

_ ‘Not the time, Stephen,’ _ Connor hisses,  _ ‘And don’t you have Cutter to fuss over?’ _

“I got kicked out,” Stephen replies, inclining his water glass towards the younger man, “Apparently, a three year age difference is enough for him to feel the right to get snippy when I try to help him with anything.”

“Sounds like Cutter,” Connor responds morosely. Nancy scuttles next to his feet.

“Well,” Stephen says, moving forwards in his chair, “Would you like to see him? You haven’t been since just after the Dracorex issue, and that was weeks ago.”

“Don’t think Lester would like if I-”

“Connor,” Stephen barks, “We’ll take Sid and Nancy, I’m sure Lester would like them to  _ not _ be here, and you know Nick would want to see them. Wouldn’t you take whatever opportunities you could get for interaction if you’d been kept away from the work you adore for what, five months, now?”

“Yeah, that would be- that would be terrible. You’re right, you’re always right, Stephen,” Connor says, and scoops up the Diictodon, “Let’s go visit Cutter.”

“Let’s,” Stephen agrees, “I’m driving.”

“Right, the-” Stephen holds up his hand.

“You’re a bad driver, Connor. Brilliant, but a terrible driver. Let’s get going.”

* * *

Nick Cutter does not expect a Diictodon in his lap when he greets Stephen at the door, cane by the couch. His former assistant offers an uncharacteristically broad smile, and passes him the stem mammal, careful to offer his other hand so that the weight doesn’t drag Nick to the floor. Connor steps in behind Stephe, sheepish and smiling.

“So,” he says, “Tell me about what’s happened recently?”

“Well, I guess I should start with the Dimorphodon from before I showed up last- we didn’t have much time to talk then, did we? So yeah, Dimorphodon, very cool, and then there was the Dracorex and the knight, and I don’t know if Stephen told you about that one-”

“He did,” Nick interrupts. He doesn’t mention that he’d very much like to hear about it again- besides his physical therapy and the daily visits from Stephen, there’s not been much to look forward to. He’d almost prefer to stay at the Azose-Quinn household and babysit the raptors.

Almost. The reminder that he’s not going to go back to field work, likely  _ ever _ , is still an uncomfortable one.

“Did he tell you about how I acquired a pet pigeon, though?” Connor asks, inclining his head towards the brown and white dove that’s positioned itself in such a way that it won’t make a mess.

“No, he did not,” Nick says, like a liar. Stephen had, in fact, mentioned it. And shown him photos. But Connor’s so bright and full of energy, and it’s infectious, and Nick really needs that energy right now, of all times.

There’s a buzzing, in both Stephen and Connor’s coat pockets. Nick takes his chance. He doesn’t mind doing theoretical work, but he wants to at least see another anomaly with his own eyes again, see the kind of progress they’ve made.

The other two must see  _ something _ in his eyes, because Connor shuts the Diictodon in an all-metal carrier and hides them in a relatively safe spot, wherever that may be, and Stephen gets the car running. Nick’s grin is halfway to feral, and his sudden spike of joy must worry the rest of the group.

Instead, though, the telepaths wrap around his own head, friendly and excitable, and  _ encourage _ him. Whatever’s gone on probably isn’t  _ that _ bad, after all.

It’s definitely not that bad. It’s  _ great. _ They’ve been figuring out the artefact. Nick resists the urge to run his fingers along it reverently, and smiles, instead.

“Good to see you again, Doctor Page,” he hums. There’s a reprimand of  _ be careful, don’t knock him over _ behind him- Shoshannah, who wraps him up in a hug and offers up a tupperware full of various chocolate covered items.

“Dad and I spent the last few hours tempering chocolate and experimenting with various dippings,” Shoshannah says proudly. Cutter raises his eyebrows at the use of ‘Dad’. Quinn  _ may _ be older than him, but Cutter doesn’t expect the man to have matured much in the few months it’s been since he’s seen him last.

Apparently, that expectation is  _ very _ wrong.

Danny Quinn has smoother edges, now. He’s clearly always been friendly, but there’s a deeper undercurrent of warmth, there, one that wasn’t nearly as present, before.

Nick thinks he can work with this man, who loves this team so much. He understands the feeling, at the very least.

He’ll sit with Connor, for however long it takes for the artefact to work. He’s got time. Danny doesn’t, however, because the man’s eyes gleam with a less poised version of the same feral energy that Cutter has when he feels like it, and he rushes out, the doctors on his heels.

* * *

“Oh no,” Shoshannah says, “This is  _ very _ bad.”

“You,” Danny says, pointing at her, “Are going to stay here with Sarah, and you are not going to leave her side, are you clear? Safety in numbers.”

“Sir, yes sir,” Shoshannah replies, tucking her bat under her hand so she can tape up her hands. She anticipates doing quite the amount of swinging.

She looks up after she’s done, but they’ve already left.

“Come back safe,” she says weakly, under her breath. Sarah gives her a look of sympathy. There are shadows in the doorway- Stephen, and Cutter, leaning on a cane. The Professor has a look of childlike wonder on his face.

“Let’s find a place to set up shop and prepare for-”

Shoshannah stiffens. She can feel Becker’s irritation from here, and a twinge of sadness, and panic, so much panic.

“Future predators,” she whispers in horror, so quiet only Stephen can hear her. The man in question narrows his eyes.

“We can’t leave them there-”

“They went looking for Abby’s brother,” Sarah says, “All we can do is-”

“Kill any one of those things that comes through. Please excuse me a moment, I need to be bigger for this,” Shoshannah replies, mentally shuffling through what might be a workable shape for such an issue. There’s the raptors, of course, both medium and large sized, but they’re too small to make much headway in a fight against a Future Predator.

Shoshannah studied the Allosaurus closely enough to mimic it, she thinks. But there’s something  _ bigger, _ something she’s halfway forgotten, a creature she’d gotten close enough to  _ touch _ and had certainly gotten to know well enough to mimic.

“Stand back,” Shoshannah says, “I’m going to need the space.”

* * *

“ _ None _ of us have consistent combative powers, and all of our weapons require the use of sound-” Becker hisses as they plan.

“I could try to cast a silencing spell?” Danny offers, “But last time I tried, I made myself deaf and everyone else more capable of hearing the sounds I made.”

“That’s exactly my  _ point _ . We need a fully armed search and rescue team, not a half-trained late bloomer of a magic user, a telepath, and two non-powered humans who don’t even have guns!”

Abby gets  _ angry. _ She’d think at least Danny or Connor would understand- older brother to a missing younger and her best friend and all, but-

She storms out, and almost immediately regrets it.

Danny breaks out the Dad Voice. Abby would try to deny that it works, but it  _ does _ , indeed, work. And they  _ do _ find Jack, but Abby finds herself wishing she’d listened at first and waited a minute or two for more backup. They might not have had to take a detour, and they likely would have found him in the same amount of time, and-

Too late for second-guessing. Abby hisses at her brother to be  _ quiet _ , for once in his life. Danny heads down to rescue Jack, and everything goes horribly, horribly wrong.

The Future Predators congregate, Jack can’t climb and is very, very loud. Danny climbs through, helps pull Jack up, and then  _ throws a flare down the ladder. _

There’s a low, rumbling roar, a threatening, oppressive noise from far off. The Future Predators that remain go scuttling towards it curiously.

Abby knows that sound, but there’s no way the Giganotosaurus could be-

Oh right. They’ve got a shape-shifter on their team. Abby sincerely hopes Shoshannah only stuck her head through, because she can’t imagine the giant theropod jumping into the anomaly like they’re likely to have to do.

* * *

Shoshannah pulls her head out of the anomaly, and shakes it wildly, clamping down on the Future Predator between her teeth and spitting it back out from whence it came. Apparently, that’s good enough to warn a good few off, because after two to four more of the same, they stop coming.

_ “This seemed like a good idea at the time,” _ she tells Stephen, who’s eyeing her plan of attack critically. The man lifts his hands in a gesture of peace, while Cutter continues to fuss over the locking device with Sarah, until they get it working. If Shoshannah’s being honest, it’s mostly Sarah. Cutter’s always been the plans man, not the can-you-get-it-working man.

_ “Keep it  _ open, we need them to be able to get back here,” Shoshannah says, shifting back to human, grabbing the massive pile of snacks that Sarah has brought with her to munch on while she works, and scarfing about two-thirds of it down before taking on the theropod’s face again.

“Oi!” Sarah shouts, “That was  _ my _ food, thank you very much! You’re not the only one whose powers have an effect on their metabolism!”

_ “You’re not the one who’s currently an eight ton apex predator, though,” _ Shoshannah says,  _ “This  _ does _ take energy to maintain, you know.” _

“Liar, you already told me that it’s the up front energy cost and the shift back that’s the most trouble.”

_ “In a  _ normal _ form, yes, but again- eight ton apex predator. I need energy just to keep this body alive, and I don’t particularly feel like eating any Future Predators at the moment. I know for a fact now that the Giganotosaurus’s tongue thinks they taste terrible.” _

“Fair enough point,” Stephen hums, before pointing to the anomaly, “Just be prepared to go all Mama Crocodile-”

_ “I have serrated teeth right now, that is a  _ terrible _ idea, Stephen. Almost as bad as how Future Predators taste. I am never going to stop thinking about it, am I?” _

“Half our team is on the other side of that anomaly, and you’re cracking jokes?” Cutter growls. Shoshannah swings her massive head over to face him, and glares.

_ “Hey, I use humor to cope. Do you really want a carnosaur having a panick attack in the middle of this… repurposed hangar?” _

Cutter sighs.

“You’re not the only one that’s stressed.”

Shoshannah noses him, as softly as she can manage, and turns her attention back towards the anomaly, and ignores the rumbling of her now immense stomach.

* * *

Nerves are running high. Nerves are running  _ very _ high.

Danny’s never considered the fact that, objectively speaking, Becker is the second youngest member of the team, at twenty-four to Abby or Connor’s twenty-six. He’s clumped them all together at the younger end, of course, but Becker’s always seemed so mature compared to the other two.

The guilt’s going to eat away at him, Danny knows that much.

Apparently, though, his luck’s still decent, because the smoke’s driven the future bugs out, and that means they might have something approximating a chance of making it.

There’s a familiar man, and a woman in a very weird choice of clothing, but Danny keeps running, and running, and running.

* * *

Shoshannah glares at the small bug. She’s not the only one, though Stephen’s ire seems to be more directed towards Sarah.

_ “If there’s one, there’s probably more,” _ she suggests. Cutter goes rigid, and moves to trap the bug, while Sarah panics in the corner.

They still have time. She thinks. Sarah lunges for the bug, opening the anomaly in the process, and tosses the box through. Their missing compatriots come through afterwards.

“I thought the many dead Future Predators were a good sign,” Connor says, looking up towards her theropod’s snout. Shoshannah shrinks back down to human, and hauls whoever she can back onto their feet until she’s pulled into a tight hug.

Shoshannah will give Danny this one. Near-death experiences do tend to make people more touchy-feely than usual, and Shoshannah  _ does _ usually like hugs. Except, with warning. And not when the giver of said hugs is absolutely covered in future muck.

“Glad you’re back, Dad,” she says into his shoulder, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes.

“Glad to  _ be _ back, peanut,” he replies. Shoshannah frowns, breaks the hug, and stares him dead in the eyes.

“Peanut? I am  _ your height _ .”

“I’m making up for showing up well over a decade late, peanut, I have a right to pet names. If you  _ want _ a better one, you’re going to have to suggest it, and you  _ do _ like peanut-flavored things.”

“I like peanut  _ butter _ flavored things, like any rational person does. And  _ you’re _ going to have to tell Mum you almost got eaten by future predators and I yelled at them for an hour.”

“Why, exactly, is that my job?”

“Because I taught you how to temper chocolate today?”

“Fair point,” Danny replies, flipping the flip phone that he  _ somehow still has _ closed, before tapping Shoshannah’s shoulder, indicating the lovebirds in the corner, and grinning.

“Let’s move out!” her hopefully soon to be stepdad shouts.

Shoshannah, despite the circumstances, thinks the day has been relatively good, all things considered.

Something’s clearly still bugging Danny, though. He’s gone to talk to Lester about  _ something, _ and he and Shoshannah’s mother are clearly plotting. She knows the look.

Shoshannah is  _ going _ to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. I promised. And I kept that promise. Chapter Thirteen is done (split webisode/a bit of 4x01). Chapter Fourteen is on the way. I'm tired out of my mind, and I've got this, next two chapters, two of TVOK, and another entire fic.


	11. heavyweight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3x09, and we've got some Nervousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this actually took... not very long

Someone’s not where they’re supposed to be. Shoshannah knows this, because she’s been following Danny. Partially, it’s because she knows he’s definitely ring-shopping, the romantic idiot, and if he’s about to make a particularly foolish decision she’s of the mind that she should  _ probably _ step in, but primarily, it’s because of the fact that if he pokes Christine Johnson enough, Shoshannah’s worried that her mother’s sweet, paternal boyfriend is going to get a hit taken out on him.

And so, Shoshannah stands by, and then doesn't. Pigeon forms are useful that way. Even if she does get inside, nobody’s going to suspect her of nefarious deeds, not when she’s just a pigeon. And she’s not like her Blackwood second cousins- seeing a pigeon with light brown eyes will not set of the same mental alarm bells of anyone used to dealing with shape-shifters that bright green eyes will.

She listens, same as he does, fluffed up in the corner while voices filter through the air conditioning. She coos, once, to catch Danny’s attention, and receives what she hopes is a nod of acknowledgement.

Outside of the network, to make sure not to tip off Lester, she prods at him.

_ ‘It is me, by the way. _ ’

_ ‘I figured,’ _ Danny replies,  _ ‘Just listen.’ _

The woman Christine Johnson’s kept there for what- a month?- has steel in her voice and her spine, and the way she talks about the ARC makes something in the back of Shoshannah’s head  _ scream _ threat, which is overcome by the fact that there’s a warning in the back of her head, too, that they need to be on their way.

They get interrupted soon enough. Danny bolts, and Shoshannah shifts into something small, something hide-able, something familiar-

She’s a red squirrel, now. That’s neat. Makes sense, too- her mum  _ did _ bring her on conservation missions quite a few times when she was little, it makes sense that she’d have vivid enough memories to still shift the cute things. She makes the jump to Danny’s stolen uniform with ease, chittering frantically and hiding in one of the man’s large front pockets.

* * *

The oldest and youngest members of their field team are missing. That’s never a good sign. But there’s obvious shielding, too, around Danny’s head, at least- slapdash last-minute work, likely to keep Becker from listening in on whatever’s going on on their end of the line.

Connor and Abby are both nervous, though- which isn’t unusual, they do tend to be the nervous sort, but they’re more nervous than usual. Sarah ignites her hands, and Stephen rocks back and forth, hand on his tranquilizer gun, shoulder next to Becker’s. The man may only be nine years Becker’s senior, but he’s certainly protective enough to act like he’s much, much older.

Becker pulses alarm down the line when he hears the noise, and hopes their missing two will be back soon enough.

There are… a lot of very large creatures. They’re quite obviously  _ not _ archosaurian in nature, but Becker resists the urge to offer an all-clear- their last two need to show up anyways, and he gets the sneaking suspicion that the father-daughter dynamic duo have gotten themselves into more trouble than they should have.

That may be from the panic. It’s probably from the panic. Of course, that could always be a reverb from what Becker himself is thinking. Stephen shifts uncomfortably, and nods.

“I get sensory input from the network, sometimes,” he says, “Shoshannah’s nose isn’t as good as mine, but it’s still very good. She’s smelling antiseptic, sweat, fear, and gunpowder at the moment, and I, for one,  _ really _ don’t want to know why.”

“I’m going to get this place evacuated,” Becker sighs, “What are these things, anyways?”

“Connor?” Stephen asks.

“Embolotherium,” Connor says, “Kind of like prehistoric rhinos, but they’re actually most likely more closely related to horses. Peaceful grazers.”

Stephen and Abby snort as one.

“If you think rhinos are peaceful-”

“You’ve never met a rhino,” the blonde finishes, and fist-bumps Stephen, before realizing the implications of what she’s just said and turning back to the field with fresh horror.

Becker pinches the bridge of his nose. Even now, when the sun’s barely up in the middle of summer, he can tell that it’s going to be a long,  _ long _ day.

* * *

Danny pats his pockets, and sighs in relief when the tufted head of a red squirrel pops out to stare at him.

_ “So, what’s the plan?” _ the squirrel stage-whispers, climbing halfway out of the pocket just to stare at the door. Danny shoves Shoshannah’s head back down.

“No talking, and you need to  _ hide. _ Can’t risk giving me away. Why were you following me, anyways?”

_ “Making sure you have backup for ring shopping,” _ she whispers,  _ “I know my mum’s taste in jewelry. Try looking at cabochon cuts. She’s going to be wearing it for months at the least, let’s try to make sure it’s something that fits. And diamonds are marked up artificially because of a corporate monopoly.” _

“Already figured that out for myself, thanks, I’ve been retracing my steps to throw the rest of you off. You think she’ll say yes?”

_ “You do know you’ve not been the only one ring shopping, yeah?” _

Danny stares at the squirrel with the off-color eyes, and grins.

He grabs a bag from the table, investigates the little book within, before they’ve got company, and he’s escorting the young woman out of this well-cleaned hellhole they’ve found themselves in.

Shoshannah giggles in his coat pocket. The young woman looks at them strangely all the way to the car, until the red squirrel scampers out of his pocket, into the backseat, and shifts back into a hundred and eighty-something centimeters of seventeen year old girl. The, she only looks at Shoshannah strangely.

“My daughter,” Danny says without thinking, “She’s-”

“I’m a shape-shifter, and I wasn’t going to let him do this by himself.”

The young woman nods, before turning back to the sight in front of her, rather than behind her. Shoshannah fiddles with something or another behind them, grinning all the while, jittering like she hasn’t flown at least five miles today, but she seems concerned with something. Danny won’t notice the small, innocuous telepathy blocker around her wrist until Becker brings it up days later.

* * *

Connor isn’t having a good day, either. Distracting the bull is probably easier than picking though the herd considering the size of the cows, but it’s also just as dangerous, if not more so. He’s actively  _ trying _ to get the bull to be angry with him, and he doesn’t have the safety net that is Becker or Stephen’s presence with a gun to act as insurance in case he can’t quite run fast enough. There’s clearly already been one victim- he’s found the body. He just needs to move, and  _ fast _ , which is why he commandeers a vehicle.

Not once does it occur to Connor that he probably should have gotten himself up a tree or up a tall boulder that he could climb but the brontothere couldn’t, which is both strange and not- the former, because humans, despite not being as good at climbing as other monkeys, are rather good for mammals of their size, and the latter, because Connor is a tower of impulse decisions in a trenchcoat masquerading as an adult to get into a film he shouldn’t be able to.

* * *

Sarah wishes someone else was here. She has her pyrokinesis, of course, but it’s not going to be very effective against animals with as thick of hides as these things. She rolls, and ducks, and hides, and stands outside the tent while Abby acts as the knight in shining armor to save their hapless victim.

And then, of course, the wailing infant attracts the mother back. This day hasn’t been a particularly good day, and Sarah thinks that there’s not a good chance of it getting any better if this is how it’s going to be going. She almost wishes she’d gotten more coffee back at the ARC, because this is going to be a nightmare and she wants to wake up.

She stares, in panic, and hopes that Abby has a good idea of five because, in truth, she does not have the patience for any of this nonsense. Well, she calls it nonsense, but her heart is in her throat, and Sarah’s pretty sure she’s going to cry.

“You’ve got to calm the cow down!” Abby yells. Sarah breathes.

_ ‘I can do this. I can do this,’ _ she thinks. Shoshannah’s calming presence wraps around her like a warm blanket. Sarah’s seen her do this a thousand times. She’s good at mimicking. She managed to get the locking device to work, after all.

And it  _ does _ work- the cow calms long enough for the calf to race out to her, squealing excitedly at the presence of its mother. Abby and the man in the tent crawl out, the latter barely wearing anything.

Sarah takes the opportunity to needle Abby while it exists, even though she knows well enough that there’s  _ something _ going on with her and Connor that’s not likely to have up and gone at any point, and the young man by the tent seems properly embarrassed. She just hopes Connor realizes he can ditch and hide now, or that their two missing teammates show their faces soon.

Sarah loves the fact that she and Becker can needle Abby together, now. Stephen even joins in, one long arm draping over Abby’s shoulders, making her laugh harder than ever.

“Alright, here’s the plan,” the blonde says, “We get one of those machines to drive the rhinos back through the anomaly. Problem solved, we all get to go home and interrogate the father-daughter duo on why they neglected to show up.”

That’s about when said father-daughter duo do show up.

* * *

The anomaly is closing, fast. Shoshannah feels bile rising in her throat- there are worse creatures to be stuck on their side of time, but not that many. She doesn’t have a durable enough form to stand up to the brontotheres, either, which means they’re likely going to have to stick to trickery.

“Why haven’t we seen an Indricothere, yet?” she whines to herself, “It would be so much easier if I could get bigger than this on land without worrying about my legs giving out from under me.”

“Or a sauropod. A sauropod would also be useful,” Sarah says. Shoshannah curses her momentary uselessness, shifts the red squirrel again, and tucks herself into the cup holder to have a short freak out session. The young woman they’d rescued from Johnson’s prison facility- she’s looking rather decent for someone who was a prisoner for a month, actually- grabs Shoshannah’s red squirrel form around the middle, earning squeaks of protest, and smooths down her ruffled fur with a soothing voice that’s somehow familiar. She smells familiar, too, and not the good kind of familiar. Shoshannah wriggles, and scurries back up to Danny’s shoulder, earning a low chuckle from the man in the process.

The anomaly closes, and the bull comes back, and all of the calm evaporates like water tossed into a hot pan. Shoshannah shifts back, tumbling backwards and nearly smacking her head on the rear window.

She can’t influence their heads- not these things. She needs to talk to  _ something _ in them to make them calm, and any basal piece that might  _ listen _ to her is too busy in half-mad panic.

Shoshannah  _ really _ wishes they were dealing with sauropods, right now.

Danny guns it. Shoshannah is mildly weirded out by how fast these heavy, massive creatures with  _ bone _ growths on their heads can move. She and Danny move to start evacuations, Shoshannah getting on the bed of the truck and  _ howling _ until everyone shuts up and will listen to Danny or Becker or Abby or Sarah or  _ someone _ who needs to be listened to. The panic rises, and she does her best to contain it, washing calm and assertiveness over the area. It works well enough.

She  _ has _ been practicing, after all. It’s been over a year since she was that girl with the Deinonychus in the park, and she’s been learning all the while.

The rusty Swiss Army Knife  _ can _ be cleaned and trained with, if one knows how to work with it.

Shoshannah catches a familiar scent on the breeze that she  _ knows _ Stephen smells too. Helen’s around here  _ somewhere,  _ they just don’t know  _ where. _

And then the young woman they’d rescued from Johnson  _ opens and closes an anomaly right in front of them. _ She doesn’t seem nearly as shocked as they do, but she’s definitely surprised. Shoshannah spots a telepathic blocker on her wrist, and narrows her eyes.

_ ‘Who  _ are _ you?’ _ she thinks, and doesn’t realize she’s sent it towards the network until she sees nods, and stares, and more nods.

This, apparently, is the Jeopardy question of the day. Danny passes the book from the interrogation room over to Sarah. Stephen’s eyes narrow further, and he shakes his head.

He recognizes it- or, at least, he did, for a moment.

Shoshannah follows the strange woman and Danny to the car, tail tucked between her legs, and curls up in the backseat, staring at nothing. Danny musses up the fur between her ears absentmindedly, before turning back to the strange woman and striking up a conversation. Shoshannah smells gun oil.

She doesn’t know why.

* * *

Lester’s of the opinion that Quinn and Azose must have done something monumentally idiotic together again ( _ maybe _ Temple, Maitland, or Page were involved, but if the lack of common sense reigns supreme by that kind of margin, it’s probably the oldest and youngest members of the field team bouncing ideas off of one another until something stuck), because he really doesn’t know why else- besides, perhaps, another violent takeover- that Christine Johnson would be in his office.

Lester’s just glad that Johnson doesn’t have a warrant for Doctor Azose’s arrest as well- she must have kept away from something confirmable, or they must not have considered whatever small animal she’d shifted into to be of enough notice to care- or, perhaps, (and Lester hopes this one is true), she hadn’t had any involvement at all.

Christine is practically purring, a confident smirk on her face. Lester resists the urge to yell at the field team through the network, though he  _ does,  _ fortunately, see Cutter coming to his rescue as the elevator door opens.

“Is there a problem here?” the professor asks, leaning hard on his cane and giving off the best air that he can accomplish of a man who’d stumbled into the wrong place at the wrong time. Christine’s too sharp to not think of the man as a threat, but her minion, Captain Wilder, absolutely doesn’t register Professor Cutter as such.

Lester’s glad for that much.

Apparently, Danny’s gone and kidnapped someone. Lester assumes he’s bringing her here, which could either go well, or terribly, terribly wrong.

* * *

Stephen knows he recognizes the handwriting, he just doesn’t remember from  _ where. _ It’s itching at the back of his head as he looks at the repeating threes, as he and Sarah stare at the diary entries. He doesn’t know why the handwriting is so familiar.

Or why it feels like a warning in the back of his head.

Or, frankly, why the entire area  _ smells like Helen _ , which is freaking him out in about a dozen and a half ways. He knows scents can overlap, and easily, but that’s to a nose not as sharp as his own, and this is definitely Helen, she’s definitely been involved somewhere around here.

Maybe she came through the anomaly with the brontotheres? That makes the most sense. Stephen’s going to go with that explanation, rather than the half dozen more nerve-wracking ones that flutter around in the back of his head, whispering into his ears and making him even more paranoid than he usually is. Stephen shudders against an imagined cold, staring into the depths of the diary as if it will lose a staring contest with him and proceed to spill every single one of the little secrets that it has to be holding.

Stephen sighs, and gives it up. He’s not going to be able to figure it out- Sarah is their best bet, besides.

And then Sarah finds the name  _ Claudia Brown _ .

And then it  _ clicks. _

“That’s Helen’s handwriting,” he breathes, and Becker starts the loud, loud,  _ loud _ warning sirens, because the last time Helen was in the ARC, five people died and ten ended up in the hospital, and Professor Cutter  _ still _ hasn’t recovered, fully.

There’s a commanding shout. It’s not from Danny, it’s not from Becker, it’s not even from Lester. It’s a glorious feeling across the network as the strings that bind the nine of them together so tightly go taught, as Cutter takes charge.

“Good to be back,” Stephen finds himself whispering as they burst into the ARC’s bullpen, skidding across the smooth floors.

They make it in time to watch everyone else react. Helen’s disguise drops in a moment, as she presses a gun against Johnson’s chest.

In that same moment, Cutter steps forwards.

“Hello, Helen.”

* * *

Nick cocks his head to the side, waits for the realization to sink in. Helen smiles, and laughs.

“What kind of trick is this? I  _ shot _ you.”

“Gut wounds aren’t always fatal, and I had very good medical care and months of physical therapy and I’m still confined to desk work.”

Helen’s laughter goes halfway to hysterical.

“Shame,” he hears Shoshannah say behind him, “I actually kind of liked her when she wasn’t trying to kill us all.”

That gets another round of laughter from Helen, which does nothing to abate the stress of the situation considering she’s still got a gun aimed at Johnson’s chest.

“I love you, Nick,” she says, eyes like a hawk’s, wide and sharp and half-dead to suffering, “But don’t think I won’t shoot you if I have to.”

She leaves with a gun trained on Johnson and the artefact in hand.

* * *

Shoshannah walks on the edge of the group in her wolf-skin as Danny makes their plan, and has a bad, bad,  _ bad _ feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been vibing with this fic for a while but it kind of just all kicked together for the last couple of days and now i've got a lot of fic on my hands for very little reason beyond it being hilariously fun to write.  
> this up to 4x07 (episodes one and two of s4 are going to be a combo chapter) is going to be more angsty than usual. then, once danny is back, back to our regularly scheduled shitposts. be psyched for season five, people, because it's going to be Full Team Shitposts. I hope.


	12. prophecy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3x10, with some notable differences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's all the ones with a completed chapter ahead of them so far!

This is a really bad idea. Shoshannah can feel it in her bones, but it makes sense to split the teams this way- sort of. Danny’s gotten better with his own magic since the last time they’ve been here, and while Sarah’s fire is  _ useful, _ it’s not as effective against future predators as any of the bigger forms Shoshannah can take.

She and Sarah bring up the same concern at the same time. Danny’s face softens.

“Look, we’re not saying goodbye, here. We’re all coming back. Now, once we’re through, you close the anomaly. It’s far too dangerous to leave it open. Unlock it in two hours.”

“Remember, suck heat from the surrounding environment if you’re running low on energy, you can convert that into practically anything. And you remember the self-silencing spells Mum taught us, yeah?” Shoshannah asks. There’s something wrong prickling at the back of her head, and she surges forwards, locking the man in a tight hug.

“Come  _ back, _ ” she tells him, “ _ Please. _ ”

_ ‘We can’t lose you,’ _ she thinks, but doesn’t let it slip through to the the network,  _ ‘ _ I _ can’t lose you.’ _

“I’ll come back, Peanut,” he says, “Promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Dad,” she replies. It’s only after he’s already gone through that Shoshannah realizes they’d never come up with a better nickname.

Her job is to make sure that Sarah and Becker don’t die.

She will hold herself to that.

* * *

Danny thinks he’ll be able to keep his promise. There’s no predators so far, even with the ruckus they’ve been making, and the connection is strong, with three in each place. Triangles  _ are _ the strongest shape in nature, after all, and they’ve got three interlocking sets, even if two of the telepaths are in one basket. Danny feels the stress that the rest of them are under, clinging to the back of Shoshannah and Becker’s heads like their lives depend on it, which might very well be the case, but Danny’s trying to avoid thinking of that particular possibility at the moment.

It’s too quiet. There’s something oh so wrong, now, something that sets Danny’s teeth on edge. He pulls the simmering heat from the metal around him and forms a barrier, just in time. The Megopterans bounce off, and straight into the open door where Connor has made a straight path for them into the anomaly. Danny wonders if the world has changed with them, yet, wonders if it ever will, wonders if there’s one thing that will  _ click _ and keep all of this from ever happening.

_ ‘Careful,’ _ and that’s Cutter’s voice, steady and strong and dignified, and whoa, Danny understands why everyone practically worships the man’s leadership skills, he’s concerned the Professor might be a latent Moondancer if his voice oozes that much comfort and competence at the same time,  _ ‘Try to avoid getting into Helen’s head, it screws up the way you think, ask Stephen if you don’t believe me.’ _

Danny won’t, but he will ask Stephen when he’s planning to fess up to the Professor about his feelings. He’s Team Dad, and sometimes he likes to play matchmaker.

Danny eyes the anomaly, knowing it’s the quickest way to get them home, intact and in one piece, and shakes his head.

They  _ have _ to go after Helen. There’s no other way to stop her from fiddling with everything until the end of time. Danny wonders when that is, wonders if the anomalies stop at the inevitable heat death of the universe, or if they keep on going, spinning endlessly across space and time like a thousand tiny stars.

Would they know to come back, he wonders, when it all comes crashing down? Would survivors- any species, any planet, any level of intelligence- know that the spinning shattered-glass is safer than home would ever be? What happens, if an anomaly opens to the end of time?

Danny shakes his head. It’s not good for him to be philosophical, it ruins his edge. Cutter seems amused enough, though, and nudges him along. Danny inhales deeply, and then regrets it, placing his hand on the hot-again car and sucking as much heat as he can from the metal without freezing it.

“Let’s keep moving.”

* * *

Shoshannah is not going to mention the fact that nobody manning the gate is not a good sign. Sarah and Becker are still in a mildly good mood, seemingly unaware of the danger that Shoshannah  _ knows _ all of them are in. She shrugs on her bulletproof vest, and digs a hand under it, to the ugly scar on her abdomen, the reminder that she’s still alive, still kicking, and that Helen can’t hurt her anymore.

Well, the last one’s a  _ lie, _ but at least it seems like Helen is  _ alone,  _ not with anyone else like she was when Shoshannah  _ got _ the scar. She sticks close to Becker, though, fear in her eyes, and he seems to understand well enough.

Sarah does too.

Shoshannah just hopes that their luck is with them. She gets the feeling that they’re probably going to need it now more than ever.

* * *

It’s dark, wherever Helen had come from before she’d gotten tugged back into their time. It’s dark, and it’s claustrophobic, and from the way Connor and Abby are looking all over the place, the likelihood of there being future predators here, specifically, is getting higher by the second.

Danny can understand their concern. Every time, he thinks he hears clicking, but the silencing spell takes a lot more energy than he’s willing to part with at the moment.

Besides, they haven’t shown up yet. They’ve practically gone missing. Danny  _ thinks, _ of course. He doesn’t have any confirmation that they’ve vacated the area.

He won’t get it, because he is terribly, terribly wrong.

* * *

Shoshannah doesn’t have a gun, and honestly wishes she did. Her bat is nice and all, but it’s a short-range weapon, and she doesn’t know enough repeatable offensive spells to make long-range a feasible option.

They’ll just have to stick together.

They hear fluttering. Sarah’s hand jumps to Shoshannah’s arm. The Moondancer leans into the pyrokinetic, offering as much comfort as she can spare while her hands tighten around her bat.

It’s a familiar sound. Shoshannah smells blood, too, and says so through the network. She’s proven right, when they see the hand.

One of the insects flies their way. Shoshannah slams it over the head with her bat, and the three of them start running.

There’s more. Becker makes a safe landing pad while Shoshannah refuses to use it entirely, instead slowing her descent with glowing eyes and the freezing of the walkway. The insects seem to not like the cold, but Shoshannah doesn’t think too hard on that for the moment, too busy running away as fast as her long legs can carry her, resisting the urge to pick up Sarah so they can run just that little bit faster.

No, this isn’t going well.

* * *

“No, everything Helen does makes some sort of sense, we just haven’t figured it out yet. She’s morally bankrupt, not an idiot.”

“ _ Really, _ ” Connor asks. A future predator lunges. Danny fires off a shot, and the three of them slam the door shut.

“No, decent description, that,” Abby says, “You’re right. Helen’s smart, Helen rationalizes things to herself. She wouldn’t do something for no reason whatsoever, especially if it meant hurting Cutter or Stephen.”

The Future Predator makes another go at the door. Danny tries his best, but they need to pin the door closed. He considers melting it shut with all the energy he’s been sapping from the warm and sickly air, but decides against it. That’s more likely to only screw themselves over.

“Becker is not going to be happy with you,” Connor says, “That was his favorite gun.”

“We’ve gotta get him a significant other,” Danny says, laughing. Abby’s sound of shock snaps them out of their revelry.

“We’re in the ARC,” Danny says, eyes wide, hand running over the not particularly nice looking logo. Helen’s got to be here. There’s no way he’s leaving and letting her hurt anyone else, not after what’s already happened.

“Come on,” he says, and leads them deeper into the bowels of the beast, ignoring the pulse of instinct (or maybe just everyone else’s worry compounded on top of his own, masquerading as instinct) that tells him that this is a terrible idea and something is bound to end up going wrong.

It’s not going to go wrong. Danny’s got to have faith in that much. There’s a ring burning a hole through his sock drawer, and a search on adult adoption that  _ looks _ promising, but he’s going to have to get  _ home _ for any of that to happen.

And it’s his job to get Connor and Abby home, too. Connor and Abby, who are sweet and lack common sense and are relying on him to keep him safe.

Everyone, including Danny himself, jokes that he’s Team Dad.

Now, it’s the time to prove it.

* * *

They’re so careful, and yet, the bugs are back.

Shoshannah resists the urge to let out a primal scream of frustration and hit the future insect until it doesn’t get up again. That would not be useful. Instead, she hits only  _ one _ of them over the head with the bat, splattering bug goo everywhere but on her, thankfully, meaning there’s one less giant future ant to deal with.

“I hate these things,” she growls under her breath as they run, and find a place to hide, except the place to hide is still very open and easy for the future ants to get to and  _ what is going on _ -

She, half on instinct, soothes Sarah. It’s easier, now that they’re her people, and not a bunch of strangers she barely knows, and that particular application on her swiss army knife of powers is just dull instead of entirely rusted over.

Becker tries to get the wires up top to work. Instead of bothering with that, Shoshannah grabs the grate itself and pushes  _ out _ , sucking heat from the ground and the area around it and releasing it as  _ lightning _ that she holds in her palm.

“Oh,” she says, staring at the fresh, rapidly healing second degree burns on her hand, “That’s the first time I’ve pulled that one off. It’s supposed to be much more dramatic, but-”

“Good enough, let’s  _ go, _ ”

The anomaly’s closed, again. Shoshannah flickers the lightning on and off and on again, weaving it between her fingers with wonder as she gets used to the new weapon in her arsenal.

“Might want to switch to a wooden bat, after this,” Becker jokes, tapping her on the head with her familiar metal bat.

“Maybe,” she says, but it doesn’t make her feel any less nervous about the situation.

* * *

One of the little anomaly control devices is dead, but there’s something moving, nearby, and there’s no characteristic clicking, ticking, clicking noise that signals an approaching Future Predator. Danny’s inhale is shaky, and he signals for the others to turn off their flashlights.

His own footsteps are soft, and the other two copy him, eyes wide.

It’s clearly Helen, but what is she  _ doing? _   
Danny makes another shushing motion, and creeps closer, grabbing the gun before Helen can.

She leans forwards, head against the muzzle, and says his name.

“Oh, so today’s Creepy Helen, is it?” Abby asks, “Or is that every day? Is that just, your standard existence?”

Helen’s eyes snap to Abby for a moment, before snapping right back to Danny. And, of course, because Danny’s luck hasn’t been the best today, she tases him, and calls for Connor, because with the Professor and Stephen not here, their student and close friend is the next best emotional ragdoll to play around with.

Danny may understand what’s going on in her head more often than not, but it’s times like these that he’s reminded exactly why he hates Helen. She’s smart, but she’s morally bankrupt, and even worse, she’s  _ patronizing. _

And now, she’s launched into the Big Villain speech. Danny resists the urge to sink back into his own head, to watch instead of being there, floating away so he doesn’t have to comprehend his own failure. It might be the fact that he’s recently been tased, but he’s noticing the fact that she’s essentially only been talking in a whisper until now, where she makes the  _ switch. _

“You know Helen, you’re in dire need of some  _ serious _ therapy. I have a good shrink I could recommend.”

Helen scoffs, and continues scrolling. If he wasn’t still half on the ground, Danny would have done something.

The light of the map is a beautiful thing. Connor smiles, and laughs, and theorizes, and-

“Such a sweet, clever boy,” Helen says, “What a shame you ever met Cutter.”

She makes her threats, and shatters the artefact.

And Danny feels a death knoll ring.

“We’ve got to find out where she was going,” he says, “How we can follow her.”

They make a makeshift battery from the torches, and then something  _ clicks _ .

Helen’s going to wipe out humanity before it ever exists.

That’s good to know. Danny’s glad he’s practically been innoculated against this sort of thing, because if he was a weaker man with a weaker constitution, he might have fainted by now.

They leap through the anomaly, and close it behind them.

Danny jolts right up when he realizes that his connection to the network has  _ snapped _ , like fishing line pulled too far.

* * *

Shoshannah waits, eyes narrowed, staring at the glowing and the swirling of the anomaly, feeling it pulse. That is, until something goes terribly, terribly wrong.

It’s a pulling, for a moment, then the  _ snap _ of string pulled to the breaking point, her own mind shaking from the recoil. She doesn’t realize she’s vomited until Sarah’s shaking her back awake, and someone’s given her a washcloth to wipe her face off. Becker’s fallen over, but he doesn’t look nearly as terrible-

Oh, right. Becker may be most of the power of the network, but Shoshannah’s the one that’s primarily responsible for the interlocking network of connections, of course he’d be fine while she’s vomited-

“Six times,” Sarah says, “And you crushed a chair in half, too. What happened?”

“An anomaly closed,” Shoshannah says, “I think, at least. It’s like a worse version of what happens when the anomalies lock. There, it’s just a bit far, but locked anomalies are more stable than unlocked anomalies. This- there were those little controlling devices, right? That’s got to be- that’s got to be it. We’ve just got to wait. They promised.”

Shoshannah is going to be waiting a long, long time.

* * *

“Normally, I’d be glad for Mesozoic, but-”

“But we don’t have Doctor Doolittle here, I remember that much,” Abby says, staring at the bootprints on the ground.

“Which means, like before, automatically assume anything here is ready and willing to eat us,” Connor says, “I mean, theropods- carnivorous dinosaurs-”

“I know what theropod means, I live with two ornithologists and three non-avian dinosaurs,” Danny says, before grinning, “Or,  _ will live. _ In several dozen million years.”

Connor starts listing species. It’s Danny’s familiarity with the three raptors that occasionally sleep on the couch or on someone’s lap and coo whenever they’re given attention that brings his guard down. They start running.

He misses Aya and Pearl and Cinnamon and the six separate avian dinosaurs that have taken up residence in his house, actually. That's nice to know.

It’s several raptors, not quite Deinonychus, but similar, which makes it worse, because Danny knows them, knows the spots that make them coo happily and can see Aya in their eyes.

And they can’t get home. Danny feels the dread sink in deeper, the understanding aching.

And Connor falls.

Danny feels his ears go, and can only watch, and feel the horror rise. If they ever get home, this is going to be a nightmare to explain. But there might not be a home to get home to, and keeping the rest of them safe is worth not keeping his promise.

Now, it’s time to find Helen.

And Danny leaves, knowing it rips at him just as much as the knowledge that he can’t get home did. But he’s got a job to do, and if that means leaving, he’ll do it.

He’s got to save the entirety of the human race. He can do that, yeah.

* * *

Shoshannah can’t feel them, through the frayed ends, but she can feel their fear and the little bits of them that are still there.

She feels like she’s cradling a ripped loom in her hands, trying to piece the shreds back together. This isn’t like with Jenny, where she could push the connections back to Danny- this is worse, ripped threat with no more use. But Shoshannah can’t make herself sever the connections neatly from her own mind. Instead, she braids them around one another, split ends smoothed out, and shakes, in the corner, humming a little song.

She can’t see the look of pity tossed her way.

* * *

Danny knows Helen’s done  _ something. _ There’s something wrong in the way this place feels, something terribly amiss. He can hear the sound of a raptor behind him.

Good. Danny knows it’s stupid to feel that animals that would be happy to kill him are on his side, but he’s been dealing with raptors for months, now. Maybe it’ll give him luck. He churrs, quietly, the few words he knows, hears the curious reply, the familiar recognition, and replies  _ threat. _

He knows that it is when he sees the bodies of the dead, thirteen ape-men that he  _ knows _ , somehow, familiar faces on unfamiliar bodies, people craving comfort the same as him.

He’s too late, but he’s still  _ here. _

Helen starts her little tirade.

“You’re both wrong,” she says, but Danny knows he isn’t, knows that even with the fact that you  _ can _ change time, the original timeline is the path of least resistance, that humanity will evolve if it can be managed.

And Helen falls, to the same raptor that Danny had seen. Danny rubs the bright blue and red feathers between the male’s eyes, and smiles.

“Good boy,” he says, and starts the journey home. He sees the anomaly, smiles. There’s still hope.

And then, it shuts, and Danny cries.

There’s a familiar clucking. Another anomaly is open, on the ridge, and a creature has been drawn in by his wailing, one with wide dark eyes and a cruel hooked beak and a pattern that reminds Danny of a Caracara.

His eyes widen in recognition at the familiar scars that cross this one’s legs, at the small nick in his beak.

“Hello, again,” he says, standing up on shaky legs. The Titanis coos pleasantly, and touches its massive beak to his face.

He’s probably never going to find a way home, but that one anomaly in their territory had opened up before. There’s a decent enough chance it’ll do so again.

Danny smooths down the feathers on the terror bird’s neck, and accepts the help the massive avian offers him.

He can do this. He can work with this flock.

He can get  _ home. _

* * *

It takes six weeks for the ARC to be formally disbanded. Six weeks, seven rescue missions that turn up nothing, and Sarah nearly  _ dying _ .

Shoshannah cries hard, the first two weeks, and does essentially nothing but, still coping with the frayed ends and hoping something opens and they thread back together again.

Her mother doesn’t cry. Rebecca Azose works, offering help whenever it’s needed, stepping up as a temporary field team leader until everyone figures out that she’s pregnant and orders her away from the action. She still fiddles with a pair of engagement rings around her neck.

It’s the morning of when Lester isn’t her boss anymore that Shoshannah receives a ticket to Boston.

Tyrannosaurs. Okay. She can handle tyrannosaurs. Might be a good distraction, too. Clearly Stephen and Cutter have the same idea, considering her tickets are booked with them, or maybe they’re just there to stop her from drinking herself into a stupor now that she’s eighteen and legally can, at least back home.

Shoshannah sinks into her middle seat, and wishes she could call Sarah, or Becker, or Lester, or hell, even Jenny.

Ten slashed to nine slashed to six.

Shoshannah doesn’t ever think she’s going to get over that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, danny does indeed ditch the pliocene in this AU. bc hanging out with terror birds > fighting terror birds.  
> and yeah... setting up "speaking of strange", here (should be out in a couple minutes to hours depending on how I order this)


	13. Matt Anderson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the Webisodes and half of 4x01! nobody's doing okay but they're all coping alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmmm... i'm moving very, very fast, aren't i

Shoshannah  _ likes _ Jess. She's sweet and energetic, and she asks a lot of questions to Shoshannah and Cutter and Stephen over the phone (including how the hell he manages to use firearms with his hearing, to which the answer is ‘earplugs’). The three of them are holed up in the Azose house, at the moment, a Deinonychus, Shoshannah’s five month old half brother, Shoshannah herself, and both men on the couch, waiting for Sarah and Becker and maybe even Lester if they're lucky to show up so they can feel like a proper pack again.

Aaron Azose is very cute, and his pup form does not betray this, expressive and sweet and absolutely covered in thick, soft fur that he keeps getting food stuck in.

She’s fine- she thinks- when they're finally called back in. The raptors make surprisingly good babysitters, despite their lack of opposable thumbs. None of the three are willing to hurt the pup, especially after he starts mimicking  _ them, _ too. Which makes sense- shifting relies primarily on memory, and he’s a baby archosauripath with nine animals in the house that he sees  _ every day. _

Shoshannah is filled with pride anyways.

Stephen and Cutter spend the two weeks between their re-hiring and the re-appearance doing who knows what, and she hasn't seen any of the others in months, meaning she’s ecstatic when the message is received.

* * *

Becker’s talking to Jess when he hears the excited half-screech, and feels a very heavy and familiar weight cling to him.

“Becker!” Shoshannah shouts, somehow not the sick, half-dead mess she was months ago when they'd lost the rest of the team. He skims her head, realizes exactly how much of this is a forceful attempt to keep from shattering, and grins, squeezing back, before dropping her.

“Jess,” he says, “Meet Doctor Azose.”

“I go by Shoshannah or Shosh,” she says, “Or Birdie.”

“That's new,” Becker hums under his breath.

“Gabe suggested it,” Shoshannah says with a shrug, before she frowns, “Right. Gabe- Gabriel- that's my cousin, he works with the tyrannosaurs in Boston.”

“First or second?” Becker asks.

“First! Aunt Maya’s only kid.”

They squabble over the new field team leader’s glowing references for a while. Something clearly sticks wrong, in Shoshannah, because-

“We’re just wondering when the other shoe is going to drop,” she says, voice so raw even Jess picks up on it, “And- I’d rather someone barely qualified that we can work with than overqualified that doesn’t fit right, you know?”

“Oh,” Jess says, “You don’t think-”

“What are the chances that someone this qualified isn’t a complete snob? What are the chances that he’s both not a snob and willing to go past the fact that half of the old field team is still in shambles, emotionally speaking? What are the chances he’s both of those  _ and _ willing to work with the network? So no, Jess Parker,  _ I don’t think we’re that lucky. _ ”

Shoshannah’s hands go down.

“Well, why not?” Jess prods, curiosity in her eyes, while Becker tries to signal  _ don’t do that _ . Jess is nice enough, he doesn’t want her to get yelled at.

Well, apparently, Shoshannah doesn’t either, because instead, she crumples up and bursts into tears. Aya scuttles over, the blue Deinonychus nuzzling into Shoshannah’s side.

“Oh,” Jess says, “That’s not good.”

“Sorry,” Shoshannah says, once she’s finally calmed down, “I’m still not- when I say the field team’s in emotional shambles, I count myself. Abby, Connor- they were part of the original ARC team, it’s not  _ right _ , it doesn’t  _ feel _ right, for them not to be here, and-”

Becker cuts her off before she can get worked up again by tossing a granola bar into her face. She hiccups, but eats it all the same.

“I’m doing better,” she says, “I just- I haven’t been here since the ARC was last disbanded. And I forgot to eat this morning.”

Jess is funny, though, and gets them laughing again in short time. She likes Pearl and Cinnamon and Aya, too, which wins her extra points in their books.

* * *

Matt… Shoshannah doesn’t know what she thinks about Matt.

He seems friendly enough, and laughs at Jess’s jokes, though who doesn’t, and there’s an instinct to trust that hums below Shoshannah’s skin, but he’s wearing a telepathic blocker, and Shoshannah still flinches when she feels that void, that humming nothingness that frightens her so much.

And then, almost immediately, he gets into an argument with Becker. Shoshannah blinks, and narrows her eyes.

“I think Becker’s right, at least with the uniform part. Sir.”

“Again, just call me Matt,” Matt says. Shoshannah shifts uneasily, and looks to Becker again, then to Jess, who’s getting more nervous as this goes on.

“Neither  _ your _ boss, Professor Nick Cutter, nor Danny Quinn had a problem with them. I understand you’re the new field team leader but-”

“Whatever Cutter says  _ goes, _ ” Shoshannah cuts in, “Under any and all circumstances. He’s not  _ just _ our boss, you know. He’s a cryptic fucker at times, sure, but if Cutter tells you to jump, you let him tell you how high and you watch with amazement when he’s right.”

“And, Sir, with all due respect,” Becker finishes, and watches Matt’s eyes narrow, “He doesn’t cut off the major intra-team communication because of misplaced paranoia.”

Matt’s hand goes to the telepathic blocker around his other wrist, and blinks.

“I wasn’t aware this was going to be a  _ problem, _ ” he says cooly. Shoshannah stands up to her full height. She’s taller than Matt, taller than Becker, too, now (the traitorous voice in the back of her head tells her that means she’s taller than Danny, too), and that plus her shoulders means she cuts an imposing figure.

“The network was a set of nine. By the time our connection-  _ my _ connection- to our Missing Three was severed, even the non-telepathic members of the group could easily determine where other members were. I’m not asking you to join it. I’m asking you to trust us not to fiddle around with your head because you  _ ask us to _ . I have to trust you with my life, I hope you’ll do the same.”

Matt doesn’t trust them, that much is obvious. He’s shifty when they receive their communications devices.

“Policy is strict,” Becker says, “Nobody goes through.”

“The network works just fine on the other side as long as they don’t close,” Shoshannah says, “Even if they’re locked. If the communicator goes down- for  _ whatever reason- _ those of us that are bonded to each other should work out just fine.”

She glares at Matt. Matt glares back.

“Right,” Cutter says, “This is about to get into a genuine argument. Shoshannah, don’t. I know blockers are a sensitive topic, especially that type, but you’re going to have to let it go. We have a job to do.”

“I know,” she says, with a shuddering sigh. Cutter holds up a hand.

“Go talk to our new veterinarian, she’s around your age and I’m sure she’d appreciate an intermediary to make her job easier.”

“Right, right,” Shoshannah says.

She hears Cutter walk over to Matt, hears what he says to Becker, too.

“You don’t have to worry about guns with the field team,” the Professor says, “We all know most of them are deadly enough without them.”

Shoshannah summons her bat in the most dramatic way she can manage, and walks off with a spring in her step.

She starts to settle, soon enough. There are plenty of times in between. Matt starts to  _ try- _ to not rely on his status as their boss, but to instead genuinely make an effort.

Then, they get their first  _ proper _ alert.

* * *

Matt doesn’t know what’s going on, really. This isn’t the  _ right _ ARC, he doesn’t think. He’s never subscribed to the notion of alternate realities, but while the personnel count is right, he was under the impression that mutations happened  _ after. _

But no, there’s Doctor Azose, calming down a rampaging sauropod with nothing but kind words and a bright, infectious smile, speaking with authority he’s never heard before. And from the way they reacted- she and Captain Becker are telepaths, that much is for sure. But they’re sweet, and they’re friendly, and they’re-

They’re  _ hurting. _

Sometimes, when he gets to work early enough, he finds Becker and Azose curled up next to one another, the soldier’s head on the teenager’s chest, even when she’s wearing the bulletproof vest that was apparently a  _ gift. _

Sometimes, he walks in on moments even more personal than that- Page grinning and turning around, before her face falls. Lester ordering  _ Quinn, _ before he starts. Cutter saying  _ Connor _ when he gets into his theories, or Hart asking  _ Abby _ what she thinks.

Or Azose’s rushed  _ hey, Dad, so I was thinking- _ before she makes the realization. Matt’s stomach plummets.

They’re putting on a nice front, but it’s clear to Matt that the only thing keeping them from shattering some days is each other- is Hart’s arm around Cutter’s shoulder, is Page telling jokes to Lester until the man finally laughs, is Becker and Azose’s quiet naps in the corner while they try to work themselves to death.

Matt knows they’d probably chuck him to the wayside the second they even had the opportunity to get any one of their missing three, back. Maybe they’d kick out Jess and the vet Azose seems to get along terrifyingly well with- Dr. Cantor, Esme, the kid on the field team who also makes Matt feel guilty. He doesn’t blame them.

And so, he takes off the cuff, and sets up his mental walls. He can feel the two telepaths startling, can feel them reach out and circle around him. They don’t slip through very far, just close enough to speak.

Matt reaches back, and feels the recoil, the surprise, the  _ why would you do this to yourself holy shit Matt of course you’d hide under a blocker i’m sorry for doubting you- _

Because Doctor Azose and Captain Becker may be telepaths-

But Matt is a telepath, too.

* * *

They’re not the only ones.

Matt gets used to three, because there’s a third telepath here, a woman with sharp eyes and sharper teeth, here under her own name, now. A cousin, a powerful one at that- a teacher for a pup to learn with.

And, from Zehavi Sokol, Shoshannah Azose learns  _ fast. _

Zehavi looks sad, though, at times. Matt figures Lester’s little insurance against any more incursions of the Helen or Johnson sort is peeved about her job description, before she mentions it.

“You know,” says the woman, “Aviv sent me here, to watch her.”

There's only one ‘her’ Zehavi could be talking about. But the name Aviv… that's familiar.

“She's a Seer, one of the best. You know how we all ask ourselves what an Anomaly to the end of time would look like? She knows firsthand. Went through when she was a kid, back in the seventeen hundreds, didn't come out quite right. I'm not going to be here much longer- I'm not dying, don't worry, but if Aviv tells you to go about something a certain way, you listen- but I need you to promise me something, Matt.”

He feels like he's going to regret asking, but-

“What?”

“That when the time comes that you finally click, you trust it, you trust yourself, you trust  _ them, _ and you don't hold back.”

That's… not what he was expecting, but-

“Why are you leaving?”

Zehavi tosses her head with a grin, cap on shaved-short hair moving with her, and nearly falling off.

“I'm needed elsewhere,” she says, “We may be Moondancers, but some of us have more weight on our shoulders in that particular regard than others. And besides, Savta asked for me, and you don't deny the Queen of Crows when she asks for your help with anything.”

“So,  _ when _ are you planning on leaving?” Matt asks. Zehavi shrugs her shoulders.

“Aviv may be a cryptic bitch, but ‘when you return triumphant from your hunt with a killer between your teeth, and you understand a flicker of what I have seen’ isn’t particularly hard to decipher. I’m betting a manhunt takes me through an anomaly. Fortunately, that prediction sounds like good news.”

Matt agrees. That prediction  _ does _ sound like good news.

He wonders, though, watching Zehavi’s sharp, flashing teeth and her immense musculature and the needle-sharp claws she has in her wolf skin, who those will be released upon, who she’ll hunt through time until they have every reason to fear her.

Despite her teeth, in every shape, Zehavi Sokol’s smile is not cruel, not to them.

Matt appreciates having her at his back, even if her duty is primarily to the actual ARC building, not the field team, now that she wears her own skin.

And even if, soon enough, she’ll leave with a killer between her teeth, to help her grandmother take down more and more until they’ve no more need of her.

Matt likes having someone who doesn’t need guns to defend herself around, and Zehavi Sokol certainly fits the bill.

* * *

There’s a blaring alarm that snaps all of them to bleary-eyed attention. Nick watches as Jess panics.

“I released the airlock too early- they were doing maintenance, and the creature got out!” she says. Shoshannah brushes past in a heartbeat, off to solve the mess, with new addition, veterinarian Esme Cantor, at her back.

“Which one got out?” Nick asks, rolling forwards in his chair. Jess inhales, exhales, inhales, while the three raptors sleeping in the control room today (instead of fussing over now six month old Aaron Azose) look at each other, and go back to resting. Well, two of them do- Cinnamon leaps to her feet and stalks down the hallway after her people.

“Princess,” Jess says, “She’s usually so good about this sort of thing, I’m sorry-”

The communicator crackles.

_ “She’s good about this sort of thing because I talk her down from freaking out! _ ” Shoshannah yells,  _ “She’s an herbivore, and a quick one for her time at that, of course she’ll panic if her conditions are changed suddenly! Now, could you turn that alarm off, I’m  _ trying _ to fix this!” _

Jess scrambles to do as the young doctor asks of her. She’s frightfully eager to please, and with that combined with her sharp mind and even sharper wit, she reminds him quite painfully of Connor. There’s a choked noise, from the back of his head, where six people were once nine or ten and they were all  _ together. _

Connor, Abby, Danny- they’re the first members of the field team they’ve ever lost, and hopefully the only ones. They’ve left a hole, where they used to fit in the network, where they’d sit on longer drives (Danny or Sarah always drove, it seemed, and Nick still catches Sarah telling a man who’s not here anymore that it’s his turn to drive), or where they’d stand in photographs (Danny and Shoshannah and Rebecca together, Connor and Abby each with one of Stephen’s arms around their shoulders, all leaned up against a Lester who pretends to be annoyed but secretly enjoys the camaraderie. Speaking of Sarah, though-

Nick knows she’s never really going to adjust to being part of the in-ARC team over the field team, but she nearly  _ died _ out there, and they’re all worried if they let her keep going, she’ll give them the slip, and run, and they’ll be five of ten instead of six.

Because that’s their  _ real _ set, isn’t it? Nick misses Claudia, but the  _ pack _ is a set-of-ten, and while Danny may have taken up part of Jenny’s spot, it’s not complete without her, either.

He’s been thinking more and more about their Missings, as they’ve taken to calling them. Matt and Jess and Esme and Zehavi can try their best to fill the void, and Philip can try, too, but there’s a  _ difference _ , a marked one, between ‘the team’, no matter what powers they may have, and ‘their pack’, because that’s what the original field team became, that’s what they brought to bear when they accumulated new members, growing larger and fiercer and kinder all the same.

When they whisper, in the bowels of the building, that the ARC is wolves and men and the field team is anything but the latter- well, they’re not  _ right _ , per se, but they’re family, and one of them most certainly is a wolf, which makes them  _ pack _ .

Because that’s the truth of it, isn’t it? Nick would gladly lay down his life for any one of the people here, but some of them are  _ his _ people. They’re him and Lester’s and Shoshannah’s and Becker’s and once upon a time, they were Danny’s, too, theirs to take care of and theirs to protect, and the stench of failure still clogs Nick’s nose most days.

There’s something about today, though- maybe it’s the smell on the breeze, maybe it’s the way that Shoshannah’s head cocks to the side like she’s listening to something that’s not quite there yet, maybe it’s the scrunch of Sarah’s nose or the raise of Stephen’s eyebrows or the purse of Lester’s lips or the narrowing of Becker’s eyes, or maybe it’s the way his own fingers drill across the table, in a way that would normally get raised eyebrows or a game of drums from Connor. Maybe it’s how Rex settles on top of Nick’s legs, and looks him in the eye, with those indomitable eyes that lizards always seem to have, and chirps.

Maybe it’s just how the air seems more alive today, how Shoshannah hasn’t left her wolf skin since dealing with Princess, how even Jess and Matt and Esme seem to pick up on the looks that the pack keep shooting one another, how Zehavi’s eyes glitter with something that she knows and they do not- an all too common occurrence, these days, one that Nick would rather like to avoid dealing with, if possible, but is more than aware is more trouble than it’s worth.

Maybe it’s all of those things that make today seem off, unusual.

Or maybe, just maybe, it’s something  _ else _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is one of two chapters to come out today- fourteen should be out in a few minutes!
> 
> i love zehavi. i love her so much. she cares so much and tries to hold it back because it's not as acceptable for her to let herself cry and fuss and worry but she *loves* these people and-  
> well, that's going to start getting into spoilery territory, and we don't want *that*


	14. home of ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the triumphant return of connor and abby! also, 4x02.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have been writing so much y'all have no idea how much of my free time this gobbles up

Shoshannah doesn’t need the detector to tell her that the anomaly is open, or where it is, or who’s on the other side of it. She’s already halfway out the door by the time that the detector blares, too wrapped up by the feeling- like a punch to the gut, if she’s being completely honest, or like she’s touched an electrified horse fence. Her paws hit the pavement, and then her back paws are claws and her front paws are wings, and she’s flying, flying, flying-

And then she’s running, again, weaving through crowded streets filled with people, because no matter how far it is, she’s going to greet them in her own skin- one of them, anyways, because six-is-eight. Six-is-eight and they’re only missing  _ two _ and only one of those two is really missing and in that moment, Shoshannah forgets how much she misses her Dad, because this is Connor and Abby, Connor and Abby who she loves with as much of her heart as she can spare for anyone.

Wolves don’t cry using tears, but she’s not quite a wolf, not really, and she wants to cry. She wants to run, run, run, and drag them back so they’re safe and she can sit on top of them so they won’t ever go anywhere without her ever again.

She’s getting close, now, she knows that much. The men aren’t that far behind her, but she’s faster than they are even on four legs, even when they’re in cars, because she’s running fast enough that her whole body aches and her lungs are on fire and she doesn’t think her claws are ever going to be all right again. But she can  _ smell _ them now, can hear their voices.

And that makes all of it worth it.

* * *

Connor goes down under about four hundred kilos of overeager wolf, with Abby soon to follow. Shoshannah clearly skids before she slams into them to slow down, but Abby’s soon enough covered in slobber, because apparently human greeting rituals aren’t enough. The tail-wagging is fast enough to take someone’s legs out from under them, and she’s  _ heavy _ , but she seems to realize that soon enough, because her skins shift, and there’s a crying heap of Moondancer in both of their laps.

Abby realizes with a start that her muscle mass has increased  _ significantly _ while they were gone. She’s always been absurdly strong, but now, she could probably pick Abby up easily with limiters on. But she’s still the sweet kid they remember. Abby digs her fingers into the young woman’s hair, into her scalp, and pulls her closer, to the point where they’re all just one heap on the ground.

There’s shouting, and Abby sees a miniaturized version of the locking device, and sees Becker, in the corner of her eye. She sees more and more members of  _ her _ team leave the vehicles, feels Shoshannah grab both of their hands and haul them up, and over to the rest of the group.

They’re only missing Lester, but Abby can feel him in her head, can feel the eight-of-ten, humming peacefully. Practically everyone’s crying, and Abby hugs Connor one last time, before turning to the rest of the team.

Hang on.

No Danny.

Abby counts again, in her head, but she knows it’s true, can feel the gap where he once was, where he  _ should _ be, like a missing adult tooth, the kind that never grows back. But he’s not  _ dead _ \- she can tell that much, too, instinct and  _ knowing _ teaching her what common sense can’t. Functionally, that means he probably makes it back at some point- Abby feels like it would tell her if he died in the Pliocene, old and lonely.

Connor tries to shut the anomaly. It… does not go well. Fortunately, they actually do have their resident Doctor Doolittle here with them, and she’s learned plenty of new tricks.

Including, it seems, how to intimidate a carnivore equal in size to her biggest form.

However, the Carcharodontosaurus doesn’t get the right idea, instead running surprisingly quickly in the exact wrong direction from a fucking _ Giganotosaurus _ the same size (and almost the same weight) as it _ , _ how did Abby forget that’s one of the forms she can take now and-

And they still manage to win the day, because of course they do.

Except for the fact that they’re essentially fired from the field team.   
“So,” she says, “Nineteen, huh?”

Shoshannah nods.

“Last time I was here, you were still a couple of weeks off from eighteen and we were planning a pub crawl.”

“I can’t get drunk,” Shoshannah replies bitterly, “Not easily, at least. If I chugged enough hard liquor, I could, but I can’t get drunk off of normal quantities of normal stuff. No matter how hard I try, I can’t outpace my liver if I don’t want to risk dying of alcohol poisoning.”

Abby thinks that’s the kind of bitterness that’s won from quite the bit of trying.

* * *

Shoshannah stalks up to Lester’s office where Burton is hiding while they’re reviewing Connor and Abby’s tapes. She doesn’t realize Burton’s there, and not just Lester, until she’s already spoken.

“I think they should stay on,” she says, and watches as they jump. Lester gives the barest of nods, while Burton snorts. Shoshannah cringes, and moves to leave.

“Doctor Azose,” Burton says, “Go ahead. I’m not going to dock your pay for speaking up, and it’s not like I could fire you or any other of the people you’ve got with you on this.”

“With all due respect, you don’t know them, not like the rest of us do. They’re tough as anything, and they’ve  _ already _ proven they can handle the stress of the job. Bench them, sure, until they’ve re-adjusted. I’ll support you with that. But kicking them off the field team and into research is just going to make them resent you, and kicking them off the ARC entirely is going to make  _ some _ of the rest of us bounce with them. Myself included, you have no idea how effectively I can perform this vigilante-style, I did it for  _ months _ while we were shut down.”

Lester balks, and Burton laughs.

“Make your case, then.”

“Both, or I get the rest of the pack sans Lester to riot.”

“Don’t count me out, here,” Lester mutters under his breath. Shoshannah grins, a feral look in her eyes, before relaxing. She’s glad Burton is a ‘fun boss’ so to speak, and that her peculiar position makes her safe- she doesn’t like having to police what she says.

“Look, you don’t know it yet, because you haven’t dealt with Life Before Connor And Abby, but most of the tech here isn’t  _ you- _ it’s  _ him _ . The locker, the detector- they’re all better, sure, but Connor built most of those from scratch with his own hands. Give him money and time and field access to see how anomalies behave and you have no  _ idea _ what he can do. And Abby? She’s got the qualifications, of course, but she’s got the clout, too. We don’t have Doctor Griffin or Doctor Hall or Doctor Burke, and Esme’s great, but we need someone with animal  _ behavior _ experience- that’s  _ not _ me- on the Menagerie, at the very least. And Connor… if you aren’t having Connor at least work on theoretical science with Cutter, you’re making the world’s biggest mistake.”

Burton cocks his head, and chuckles.

“Be glad I’m nice,” he says, “I’m not firing you for this, and I’m not going to hold it against you. I see the Captain and Doctor Page and Mister Hart out there behind you out of sight. I know this was probably a team effort, and I applaud the four of you for actually taking it up with me.”

Becker slinks out of the shadows, curious.

“But,” Burton says, “This is going to be your only warning. Barging in on a meeting like this isn’t acceptable, and while I will listen to any one of you, please give me warning, first. I see the kind of loyalty you show James, here, and I see how he gets it. I have goals I need to achieve, here, and you are  _ all _ vital for that, all vital for the future of humanity on this green Earth.”

“Not gonna be green much longer,” Shoshannah growls. Burton nods.

“Exactly the point,” he says, “Something I hope the anomalies will help us solve.  _ That’s _ the kind of energy I’m going for. Maitland will stay on board, Temple… we’re going to try to find a project to put Temple on, first, before we re-attach him to the project.”

The rest of the more feral members of the field team look at each other, and nod simultaneously.

It’s the best they’re going to get.

* * *

Connor and Abby fit back in relatively well. Except for the fact that Connor’s clearly trying to solve some sort of mystery on his own, but Becker’s not going to step in to stop him.   
Fact of the matter is, Connor’s got some sort of weird luck powers, now, alongside the lightning he’d shot at the Carcharodontosaurus, which means that none of them are going to fuss over him terribly anymore besides the usual. He can take care of himself.

He also got  _ hot _ over the year he was gone, which Becker absolutely mentions to Jess, who falls apart giggling. She’s been crushing over Shoshannah’s tall, mysterious lieutenant second cousin, who’s apparently only twenty-six, which means Becker still doesn’t know  _ anything _ about the rest of the team because if there are now four people of roughly his age or slightly younger, then Becker’s actually got a peer group.

Sort of.

Jess is about twenty-three, and Becker’s almost twenty-six now, and Shoshannah is nineteen and Esme is twenty. Which means that Jess makes their Very Young Group a proper group, instead of two very different age ranges forced to interact.

“You know she’s going to leave soon,” Becker says quietly. Jess snorts.

“Temporarily. And Zehavi is sweet, which is the more important thing. You’re out in the field all day, she scares off anyone who tries to get close to me. Also, I found the Polls.”

Becker jumps. Those aren’t supposed to be able to be found.

“Relax. But I do, indeed, think it’s funny that you and Connor and Abby and Stephen all… made charts of who was the hotter out of the couples involved around the ARC, shared it with everyone, and managed to hide it from Lester.”

Becker laughs.

“Also, you’re right about the Cutter vs Cutter debate.”

Becker laughs harder.

And then Abby and Shoshannah aren’t there, either, and Matt and Stephen are both gone, and if Shoshannah and Stephen and Abby and Connor are all gone, there’s trouble afoot.

* * *

Shoshannah stares at the crocodilian, who stares back at her, confused.

“All right,” she says, “Let’s calm down, sweet thing, and then maybe we can figure something else out? I’m sure you can help us help you find your way home-”

“Sweet thing?” the man behind her hisses, “This thing’s killed people-”

_ “This is home, ever since I was small,” _ the creature replies, shambling forwards,  _ “Once there was another place, bright and green, but that-” _

“Is your home in truth,” Shoshannah replies, “No matter how long you’ve lived here, this is no place for you. Why hide, down here, where it is cold and it takes too long to eat, when you could be warm? This is no place for you, familiar as it may seem.”

_ “What is warmth?” _ the crocodilian asks, inching forwards. Shoshannah’s been saving up energy for a good, long while, and releases it, now, the feeling of summer down South where the heat gnaws into bones. The crocodilian’s eyes are blissed-out, and it slumps.

“Doesn’t that feel nice, sweet thing?” she asks, “Don’t you want to be warm like that all the time, from the sun on your back and the water around you, instead of a temporary fuel like me?”

_ “Warmth is good,” _ the crocodilian agrees, and noses itself forwards,  _ “You can find it for me?” _

“I make no promises,” she says, “But at the very least, we could set you up with a heat lamp and a UV light, and you wouldn’t have to live in the sewers, anymore. If we’re lucky, we can find the right rip in time and space to send you home in truth, but at the moment, we can certainly do better than here.”

The crocodilian- Shoshannah thinks it’s a  _ Kaprosuchus,  _ or at least that’s what Cutter’s head is telling her- flinches and runs when Matt arrives, and stuffs them into the car.

“Hi, I’m Duncan,” the man with the funny hat says.

“Doctor Azose, I work with the rest of these idiots, one of whom just  _ scared a large carnivore that I was making progress with _ .”

She glares at Matt through the rearview.

“Sorry,” Matt says, “Didn’t realize it was an archosaur. Saw big teeth, did my job.”

His clipped tone suggests he’s not apologetic  _ at all. _

Shoshannah sighs. He has a point.

“Sorry for snapping at you,” she replies, “But seriously, please trust me, okay? I have a job to do too, Matt, and while I’d normally be happy to have someone proverbially haul me out by the scruff of my neck from a dangerous situation, if it involves me and an archosaur, it’s probably not as dangerous as you think.”

“What about the Pristichampsus from when we met Sarah?” Connor asks.

“Or the Carcharodontosaurus from yesterday,” Abby adds.

“Or the Giganotosaurus whose skin you like to wear so often.”

“All of those had extenuating circumstances, including but not limited to- I got too big too fast and startled the Carcharodontosaurus, and the Giganotosaurus… I’m going to admit, I didn’t negotiate that well, but Dad- Danny- bailed us out and nobody died  _ after _ we showed up, so-”

She freezes, and ducks her head.

“Sorry, I just- still sinking in, you know? Let’s go find ourselves a Kaprosuchus and make it clear that when I’m  _ not _ interrupted, I’m still at the top of my game.”

“You fly and look. Your primary aerial form is still an Osprey, yeah?”

“Absolutely. I’ve got this, I won’t let you down,” she says. Something flickers, like a switch, in Matt’s eyes at that. They go softer, like he’s seeing for the first time exactly how much she craves approval, just how  _ young _ she really is. Shoshannah’s already launched herself out into the wind off the water, wings beating at shifting air, wide fisher’s eyes on the lookout for any dark shape below the waves that’s far too large for fish. This is what she’s built for, the only thing she’s built for beyond her fur-legs and her voice in any form and the way her mind can wrap around someone else’s- she’s built for the air, for searches and for diving, wicked claws just as her own as her fingers.

* * *

She sounds the alarm just before Abby does. Connor can see the white and brown shape as she dives, again and again, showing off exactly where the creature is every single time. She never wavers once from where she should be, always trying to negotiate the poor thing down from whatever it’s convinced itself is the right decision. It’s her that gets Becker to Matt just in time, her ceaseless screeching. Shoshannah doesn’t shift, when they’ve got the crocodilian in the container. Instead, she rests on a pole close to Matt. He has to admit, it’s a nice picture- the big, strong, team leader with a massive fishing hawk with claws like shark’s hooks standing right next to him.

Shoshannah wings away just as quickly when they hear the scream, though, taking to the air to search that way. She thinks she should probably have some sort of specialized hood, just for her osprey shape, a combination of a hundred birds she’s seen in real life, so interchanged it’s only her, so she can hear commands the first time they’re stated, but Becker relaying them to her secondhand works just fine, too. The only problem is, it’s a damn maze, in there, with all of the empty containers. Shoshannah can’t tell who’s where, who’s who, or even if there’s anyone down certain hallways, even with her osprey’s sight. She can hear perfectly well, but that doesn’t do her any good when the person she’s looking for is someone she’s entirely unfamiliar with.

Shoshannah blinks at the realization, and closes her eyes, letting herself go adrift.

She can feel Connor and Abby, and Becker, bright spots like a supernova to her senses, and Stephen, who’s just arriving to the party but is even brighter than the rest. The security team that she’s more familiar with glow, too- Matt is like a little castle, all shut up, but he’s bright, so bright. One of these days, he’s going to click in right with the rest of them, but that’s not today.

Duncan is the life she doesn’t know, and she races down, smaller and smaller and smaller until she doesn’t have to worry about fitting between the containers.

_ “Liar,” _ the Kaprosuchus says when she shifts back.

“I wasn’t lying,” she replies, “We can  _ help _ , but you’re going to have to stop trying to eat us first-”

This train of thought doesn’t go many places. Shoshannah and Connor find themselves running as fast as they can go- faster for her than him, given the leg length and stride type difference, but still. The Kaprosuchus dies from a dose that’s far too high for it, and Shoshannah feels no grief.

* * *

“You know, technically,” Lester says, “As Abby and Connor were part of the team prior to the establishment of the military rule, it wouldn’t cover them. We established that when we kept Azose and Hart on the field team.”

“It’s your decision,” Burton says, but looks back curiously at the rest of the old field team, who stand united, as one, their shoulders rested against one another and their chins held high.

And now, Matt’s with them, the last person they need on their side in this, the one person that might have had objections strong enough to keep Connor away.

Well, if he had, Becker knows they would have chased him off.

It’s just how they roll.

Connor and Abby haven’t met their youngest pseudo-member, though, which Becker and Jess both think of as an absolute crime, which means there’s going to be a technical party at Jess’s place with the baby invited.

Becker invites Burton “Call me Philip” in addition to their usual group, as well as Rebecca herself (it  _ is _ her kid, after all, and while she may have only been team leader for about a month, she had been the one to make the executive decision to call off the searches, and pull Sarah out of the field, and she has just as much a right to be there as any of the rest of them).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes the cutter vs cutter debate is a thing and here is the interaction in a nutshell:
> 
> Danny, very drunk: if you say helen is hotter, you're probably one of the sapphics in this room  
> Danny, still very drunk: if you say *nick* is hotter, you're into the hot professor trope. no, i do not take constructive criticism.
> 
> and yeah! moondancers can't get drunk without teetering very close to alcohol poisoning. which means that rebecca was stone cold sober while cheering him on during this
> 
> \+ the spinosaurus isn't *quite* a quadruped, but holy hell would it look like one from a distance to Abby, with hands that practically scrape the ground! I'm going to stick with this assumption, since spino was mostly aquatic, but feel free to offer alternative body plans  
> \+ EDIT: HOLY FUCK!!!! HOLY SHIT!!! FLUKED SPINOSAURUS!!! FLUKED SPINO FLUKED SPINO FLUKED SPINO!!!!!!!!!  
> https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/first-spinosaurus-tail-found-confirms-dinosaur-was-swimming/  
> i'm fucking screaming HOLY SHIT!!!!!! makes this chapter hella dated but *WHO CARES, FLUKED SPINO*  
> \+ Edit 2: edited this to be Carcharodontosaurus so I wouldn't terribly date my fic.


	15. tree-creep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4x03!  
> (so, so, *so* close to some plot points i'm super psyched for!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoa! i'm tired

The little get-together takes place relatively soon. Most of them have acclimated to calling their boss by his first name, by this point, and while it is still slightly awkward to have him present, Connor sits relatively relaxed, because everyone’s here, save Rebecca.

“All right, Mum’s at the door with the cub,” Shoshannah says. Connor blinks, as the squirming seven month old stares at them.

He knows this baby is a telepath, can feel its presence, light but already strengthening. Shoshannah had mentioned once that her first form of communication was telepathy and Connor can certainly understand why, if telepathic children are already this  _ present _ at such a young age.

“It’s traditional for Moondancer cubs to be introduced to the rest of the pack as soon as possible. We don’t exactly have five to twenty werewolves fussing over us, but that doesn’t mean  _ most _ of you aren’t any less pack. And, Mum and I figured, for those that aren’t- well, more socialization, the better. I didn’t get much when I was this age, and I ended up being a biter.”

“I can see that,” Cutter replies, “That also explains why nobody was allowed to bring alcohol. Now, we’re supposed to explain his presence to Connor and Abby, yeah?”

“He’s Danny’s, isn’t he?” Abby asks. Rebecca nods. Abby extends her hands for the infant, who’s already shifted into a rather large wolf cub that barks and whines excitedly when he’s picked up and tussled with.

Philip stares.

“How can you do that this young?” he asks, “I'm assuming, of course, that this is normal development.”

“Because that shape’s just as much him as the human one is,” Shoshannah replies, and shifts her own skin.

She's darker than her brother in this shape, fur golden on her shoulders and shadowy underneath.

Zehavi shifts, too, a golden brindle pattern on her topside that clearly intrigues the cub, who paws at it.

They talk about theoretical aspects to shape-shifting for hours, until Aaron wakes up from his nap, which results in the other two members of his immediate family slinking off with him.

“Danny's got a kid,” Abby says.

“Danny's got  _ two  _ kids,” Connor corrects. Abby shoves him.

“You know what I mean. If he ever comes back- can you imagine how  _ awkward  _ that's going to be?”

“Infinitely less so than watching Philip handle a baby,” Connor replies, shooting a grin at their boss, who glares in return.

“I was simply-”

“We’re off the clock, sir, you can just say he was cute,” Matt replies, “Now, do you want to skedaddle before we break out the alcohol or no?”

Philip stares at the bottle of wine in Matt’s hands. He's clearly weighing the options in his mind.

“Well,” he says finally, “I do suppose none of you are going to rat me out to the press-”

Connor’s smile widens, and Philip raises a hand-

“But I do have things I must be doing. James, I'm aware this is a bonding experience, take blackmail photos for me, will you?”

* * *

The anomaly alert sounds, making all three of those with enhanced senses flinch. Connor’s held back, again, which makes Becker wince with sympathy.

“Where’s Matt?” he hisses to Shoshannah, who full-body shrugs, before continuing on, eyes narrowed as she turns back towards Zehavi, who’s sitting with the raptors and trying to calm them. Everyone’s favorite guard dogs are here, today, watching over the ARC with bright yellow eyes like paint squeezed right out of the tube.

Shoshannah whistles, and three heads snap towards her.

“Philip asked me to ask you all to run drills with the new system. You do what Connor tells you to do, understood?” she says, and gets three nods in return, though Aya protests.

The blue raptor is used to being sidelined for field work, but not as much as she’s been lately. Becker calls for Shoshannah as they make their way towards the exit.

Connor whines about being an overpaid button-pusher for a few moments, and Jess grins at him, ready to chat about whatever’s going on.

* * *

Matt can feel other people here, can feel the divots of non-existence from the presence of telepathy blockers (and wow, that’s how that feels from the other side? No wonder Becker and Shoshannah were so upset when they’d met him, the sheer absence of anything there, little voids, makes Matt terribly nervous.

He sees a person dash through an anomaly- it can’t be the future, that much is certain, but it doesn’t feel quite right, either. Late Cretaceous, maybe?

He’s ditched his comm.

There’s some sort of creature, in the trees, hopping through the trees like a spider-monkey. It’s coated in feathers, so it’s some sort of archosaurian- he thinks. Maybe a future creature, from a timeline that’s not his own, some descendant of the birds?

No. No, the feathers aren’t extensive enough for an archosaur. Some kind of genetic abomination, some sort of mixing that’s created a monster that thrives above their heads.

Matt makes it to a locked anomaly, and hopes dearly that they care enough for him to unlock it.

They do.

* * *

There’s someone here. Shoshannah can  _ smell _ them, can smell the otherness, knows that there’s something not right here.

It smells like two women, and a man whose scent is… familiar? It’s not right, off-putting, but she’s smelled it before, in a house, old, old blood, and pack-scent, too.

She knows a relative of whoever was here, and she smelled the blood their injuries left behind, once. That doesn’t.

Matt comes back through, with a young woman in tow, a young woman that doesn’t smell familiar, so that knocks that theory out. Shoshannah shifts, and frowns in her wolf-skin, looking up at Stephen.

“I’m getting it too,” he replies, “Let’s just steal Connor back from Philip and see if we can figure all of this out.”

_ “So what was that, anyways?” _ Shoshannah asks,  _ “It didn’t sound  _ right _. It sounded garbled, like it was trying to talk, but it couldn’t.” _

“You couldn’t understand it?” Matt asks. Shoshannah shakes her head.

_ “No. And it’s not like with phytosaurs. I can’t understand what phytosaurs are saying, but it’s like they’re speaking through a tunnel. If I really try, I can make some words out, enough to get some ideas across. This… it’s like someone smashed a dozen unrelated animals into one, completely screwed up its communicative abilities.” _

“Okay. Stephen, you’re not going back to the ARC, you’re following all of us to the hospital. Shoshannah, stay on me, wolf skin, see if you can- I don’t know, weasel more out of her than I can.”

Shoshannah nods, and keeps on Matt’s heels, head down. She gets a few strange looks when she’s in the hospital, certainly about her immense size, so she shifts again, shrinking smaller, retractable claws swapped out for those with better purchase on the smooth floors, though it’s not by much.

“Labrador Retriever, good choice,” Matt says, “Less conspicuous.”

There’s an argument. Shoshannah licks Becker’s hand apologetically, before she frowns.

_ “Did we carry her in through here?” _ she asks, looking up at Matt. Her scent recognition is better in this form by a small margin, and it’s still identifiable as the woman from the theatre’s.

No. No, in fact, they did not.

Shoshannah runs, tongue lolling out, in her labrador form, scampering down stairs at Matt’s heels. It’s taken a long while to get her, but-

But it’s starting to feel right, again, to work with Matt. It’s good.

* * *

Jess startles when Cinnamon and Pearl and Aya raise their heads and begin to chitter, pupils small and eyes wide. She startles more when they take off running, their own specialized tags giving them unfortunate full run of the ARC with the exceptions of the labs and the animal pens in the Menagerie.

_ “Let them!” _ Matt shouts through the comms,  _ “They’re going to back up Becker and Abby while Stephen and Shosh and I look for our missing time traveler.” _

“Oh?” Jess asks, taken aback.

_ “Their collars have communicators attached. If you want to talk to them, you can,” _ says Shoshannah,  _ “It’s like the collar in my wolf shape,”  _ Shoshannah says,  _ “Which is why I asked Abby to take it off and re-adjust it for this one.” _

Jess panics when everything goes dark. They’re under lockdown, now, which means they have to rely on Connor’s freaky luck abilities or what he’s been working on.

* * *

Shoshannah hears the frantic barks of Pearl, who stares at the tree-creeper in front of him, and lunges. The tree-creeper runs from the Achillobator and up the stairs, up, up, up to follow the other where it’s likely on the roof. She’s glad the raptors showed up when they did- they’re far heavier than anything other than Shoshannah’s own wolf skin here (Well, Aya isn’t, but Aya’s almost always next to Cinnamon, so that’s fine).

The raptors cluster into a circle, and hiss. Pearl steps forwards, rattling out his feathers threateningly. A borrowed spike of panic ricochets across the back of Shoshannah’s head, but she ramps it down. The panic spikes, higher, and she crumples.

“Something’s wrong back at base,” Shoshannah hisses, “Something’s  _ really _ wrong back at the ARC, Becker, maybe someone should go back-”

“After we take care of the tree-creepers,” Becker replies. Abby shouts, and both of their heads snap in harmony.

“I’ll shift and try to find them,” Shoshannah says, “I think- I saw some nocturnal squirrel, at one point, while Mum and I were doing conservation work in the  _ States _ -”

She’s tiny, now, trying to force the voice of a woman strong enough to lift several grown men at once through the throat of a-

“You’re a flying squirrel,” Becker says, amused. Shoshannah chitters at him.

_ “Yeah, I saw them while we were working with Mexican Spotted Owls in Texas. Usually, the ranges don’t overlap, but-” _

Becker cuts her off.

“Just go find Abby and make sure nothing bad happens.”

Shoshannah does as she’s told, climbing high and making sure she’s not within grab-able range. She spots the tree-creeper fairly quickly.

_ “Third pole from the left!” _ she squeaks into Abby’s ear, flicking her flatted tail. The tree-creeper rushes once the pole begins to make its way down, but Abby manages to snag another one of the poles entirely, sending both creature and large hunk of metal careening downwards. Shoshannah hears the fired shots.

“Thanks for very little, now let’s go help Matt,” Abby says, holding the flying squirrel between her hands. Shoshannah nods, and shifts again, ruffling the elegant feathers of her osprey shape as Becker holds out his arm to receive her claws.

_ “Mind getting me outside? I don’t want to have to shift where people can see me, you know,” _ she says evenly. Becker snorts, and assists her to the door, where Shoshannah lets go of his hand and rushes into the air above London, reveling in the feeling of the breeze on her wings.

* * *

Jess stares at Zehavi.

“You think you can get us more time?”

“I  _ know _ I can perform distance-based air bubble spells. It’ll give them extra time, I’ve done it before, too. It’s one of the first things you learn how to perform when you’ve got non-magicals on your team, it’s called a long-distance bubblehead charm. Yes, I can do it.”

“How close do you have to get?”

“Preferably? Other side of that door, but I can do that much. The problem is the fact that I can’t teleport with passengers, not across that kind of gradient without fucking up their lungs permanently. I can get to there, just give me a minute.”

Jess feels a surge of affection for the lieutenant in that moment as she winks and vanishes. Philip’s breathing steadies on the other side of the line.

“I’ve bought you an hour more of time, but that’s going to dissipate after that. Rex has about another ten hours, he’s in no trouble, but Philip’s the priority, you understand?”

_ “Thank… you…” _ Philip replies, his voice getting stronger as he breathes in real air,  _ “For saying that much.” _

“You’re not out of the woods yet, boss. And I  _ will _ yell at you for making such an extraordinary death trap once you get out of that room, because this isn’t a fucking security system, it’s a carnival of horros masquerading as a security system, but that’s going to wait either until Connor unlocks those doors or I can find us someone who can actually manage to pull at least you out of there teleportation-wise with the oxygen gradient.”

“I’m on it,” Connor says.

“You’d  _ better _ be,” Zehavi growls, then sighs, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t raise my voice. Connor, please get back to trying to save our boss and our mascot.”

_ “Rex… is… the mascot?” _

“Yeah, he actually was the first one through the anomaly- Abby joined the team because of him. He’s been in at least two hostage situations, one of which resulted in finding out Leek as the mole, and Stephen’s missing lower leg.”

_ “Oh,” _ Philip replies,  _ “I wondered… how that happened.” _

“Rude, but yeah, it involved the whole Helen and Leek incident, Stephen told me about it after the fact. Also, far too many future predators. Listen, your breathing is still more labored than it should be for this kind of scenario. Do we think it’s stealing air from the bubble? I can pop it for both of you and try to refresh.”

_ “Might… be.” _

“I’ve got it. Connor, Jess, stay here and… try not to let Philip die. He’s a good man, I’d rather not have his blood on our hands.”

Jess looks at Zehavi, eyes shining like she might actually be one bad moment away from bursting into tears, and starts. The Moondancer is usually a stoic kind of person, but right now, she’s worried sick. Jess really wants to hold her hand and tell her it’s going to be okay-

And, she’s gone, off to provide fresh air to their boss.

* * *

Matt sees the familiar flash of white over his head. Shoshannah’s pale osprey’s belly flickers over to the building above them, a high and loud sound, a proper kree. It sounds almost like the chirping of some sort of songbird, but Matt’s ears are the more discerning sort, and he recognizes the sound. And ospreys aren’t exactly common, this close to the center of the city.

Matt follows where his eyes are taking him, sees the reflection of the bird and the tree-creeper in the glass. He can’t get a clear shot on the actual creature from this distance, but he can get a shot on the metal that lies below it, and metal does conduct electricity.

He fires, and the creature clearly feels it, spasming the way it does. Shoshannah krees in tiny victories, landing on top of the building proper when she doesn’t have to worry about it sparking, anymore. But the joy doesn’t last, because the creature moves, and quickly, too, through the hole it makes when its body falls. Matt can feel the other telepath’s panic, and moves quickly.

* * *

“Alright!” Connor shouts when they terminate the lockdown. Zehavi sparks back to them, and snags a medic, dragging them towards the menagerie, panic still clear in her eyes. Rex is running lower on oxygen than Philip is, despite the air bubble around him, and he needs help. Jess watches, half-helplessly, as Connor sets up the oxygen tank for the little lizard.

Zehavi is fussing over Philip, and sighs when he drags himself awake again.

“We,” she says, “Are going to  _ talk _ about this once you’re better. I should have known this was going to be a problem, but I’m not going to kick up much of a fuss when you’re still oxygen-deprived.”

The worry’s clear in her voice. She cares, deeply, for people- that much is obvious. She cares deeply for  _ these _ people, in particular. Jess knows there’s a finite point where this is going to  _ end _ , she just hopes it isn’t soon.

She reaches out for Zehavi’s hand, wanting to say  _ something _ about the bubblehead charms, wanting to say that she probably either saved their lives or some of their brain-cells, or at least took away some of the edge of the panic, let Connor figure it out on his first attempt rather than his third.

Instead, this is what comes out-

“Dinner?” Jess squeaks. Zehavi smiles.

“I was planning to ask you, actually. I figured, since you have such a love for chocolate- you want to check out that Dark Sugars place before dinner?”

Jess’s whole face might catch on fire.

“Yeah,” she says, “I’d like that.”

* * *

Matt thinks he cuts a rather impressive figure when he hauls a falconer’s glove out of his bag for this exact reason. The woman out of time seems to agree with that sentiment, staring at the immense bird with wide eyes.

“Beautiful hawk,” she says, “Smart, too. How’d you train her to do that?”

_ “He didn’t,” _ Shoshannah replies bluntly,  _ “I’m a shape-shifter, not a normal osprey. This is just my favorite form.” _

“Oh,” the woman says, “You’re the dog and the wolf from the hospital, too?”

_ “Yes,” _ Shoshannah replies,  _ “And now, I’m going to be a squirrel again because I can get into places neither of you can.” _

The teen shifts again, a red squirrel this time, and moves as if to jump onto Matt’s shoulder, before changing her mind with a sigh, and shifting into her more traditional form.

The wolf eyes the tree-creeper carefully, and digs sharp teeth into its side when it tries to go after Matt, and chases it as much as she dares. But the sounds of pain and distress that the tree-creeper makes  _ hurt _ her, clearly- Matt can tell that much when he finds the wolf with paws over her ears. And Emily seems to trust her, well enough.

Matt pretends not to notice when the osprey follows them. Shoshannah’s never been too keen on who’s plotting what, despite the telepathy, but she is the kind to fuss.

He knows the hawk hears them, and invites her down. Emily startles.

“Relax,” Matt tells her, “If anyone’s likely to tell on you… well, she’s kind of on the forgetful side.”

_ “Excuse me?” _ Shoshannah replies, but takes the out when she’s given it. Matt scratches her head apologetically, anyways, so all is forgiven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! i have a lot of art for the fur and feathers AU- *including* these fics- over on my deviantart, TheOrderOfAssassins!


	16. stem mammals are (not actually that) awesome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4x04!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end of this chapter is Fun

Shoshannah regrets when she’d said she wanted to meet stem mammals. Sid and Nancy are sweet, sure, but she feels like the other shoe is going to drop sooner rather than later. Maybe it’ll be a Gorgonopsid, maybe it’ll be something else.

Zehavi seems happy enough. She and Jess have been dating for a little while, now, and they’re sweet on each other, which does make a good deal of sense, considering their personalities. Zehavi likes to pretend to be a badass, with how she does quiet missions for Lester and comes back with more injuries than she left with but none of her covers blown, but she’s soft, on the inside, and Shoshannah thinks it’s very sweet. But there’s something wrong going on, and that much is painfully obvious.

Zehavi sees it too. Her eyes narrow, and her head cocks. She shifts, and her brindled hackles go up.

“I’ll talk to Connor and Abby,” Sarah says, rolling away in her little office chair. She’s gotten antsy, being stuck here in the ARC and primarily working on alternative projects rather than working on only ARC projects.

_ “I’m going to go yell at Philip for a mo’,” _ Zehavi says,  _ “I can hear everything he just said in there, and it’s a terrible idea and it’s his fault that this place is a death trap anyways and honestly we never should have moved and-” _

“What?” Shoshannah asks, narrowing her eyes.

_ “Don’t worry about it. Actually, never mind. Philip’s planning on putting the animals save the raptors down.” _

Shoshannah stands.

“Call me if it’s an archosaur, I’m staying here,” she replies. Zehavi shakes her head, and shifts back.

“They need one of us out there. Trust me, I’ll be able to handle it. Any suggestions?”

“That putting down Rex is going to get every single original member of the team to riot,” Cutter offers, “But I’m going with the field team too. Shoshannah, Connor, Stephen- with Becker. Sarah, you stay here and try to argue, back up Abby on whatever she says.”

* * *

There’s no sign of a creature incursion, which is fortunate, considering the fact that half the field team is either not on their best game for the day or not in a particularly good mood. Cutter’s having a good day, it seems like, so Becker doesn’t have many complaints, but Stephen’s glare is dark and stormy and Shoshannah’s hackles are up.

Matt’s being a suspicious bastard, again. But there are six of them, not just three, and Becker needs to watch two gunless backs in the form of the Professor and the Doctor.

“Becker, with Matt. Connor, Stephen and I will take the other direction. Shoshannah, stick on them like glue, you understand?”

_ “Yes sir,” _ Shoshannah replies, sniffing at a severed hand.

Becker starts at a locked door, several sets of locked doors, in fact. Shoshannah whines and startles.

_ “There’s venom in this,” _ she says, nosing at the severed arm,  _ “And not snake fangs, either. More like shrew venom.” _

“Shrews are venomous?” Becker asks.

_ “Some sorts. But this could be anything, any sort of species, from any time. Hell, for all we know, it’s a venomous future cat.” _

Matt snorts.

“I highly doubt that much.”

_ “Then what, exactly do you think did this? I can’t think of any large carnivores off the top of my- no, wait, Cutter says there is one, a couple, actually, stem mammals from the late Permian and early Triassic. Therecophalians.” _

Becker nods. There’s something buzzing in the back of his head, like Abby’s trying to shut him out, like she’s doing something she very much shouldn’t be.

* * *

Speaking of Abby, she’s grateful for the fact that Zehavi’s perfectly happy to help her with this. The Moondancer slinks the small animals out with relative ease, and offers to host Rex and Sid and Nancy at her own place until Abby and Connor can take him back, if they can get them out. The mammoth is to stay with the same herd of Asian Elephants he did before, while the other large animals… well, the goal is to get them to the US team, who’s gotten a reputation for taking on animals, but Abby plans to funnel them out through a private zoo, first. If she can avoid the mammoth and the Dracorex becoming tyrannosaur chow, she will.

Jess, thankfully, is willing to turn a blind eye to the fact that Abby and Zehavi are doing something that they absolutely shouldn’t. Fortunately, it seems to be going well for a plan concocted at the absolute last possible moment. They enlist Sarah for the Dracorex- she does have more experience with handling it than anyone other than Abby or Becker, here, and the creature trusts her, after all, might as well use that fact of life in their favor if they can manage to get away with it. Zehavi grumbles about wanting to give Philip a piece of her mind, but that’s going to have to wait until they’ve gotten the creatures out.

Abby’s not going to risk anything more than she absolutely has to. She values Rex too much for that. The Mammoth has saved their lives, too.

Abby wonders if the Moondancers figured this was going to happen before it did, because all three raptors have stayed home today, instead of coming to the ARC with Shoshannah. Abby doubts it- it’s just luck, really. And it’s not like the raptors were going to be put down anyways.

* * *

“It’s a maze in here,” Stephen hisses, cocking his head. It really is- the sound doesn’t bounce right, in here, too many empty rooms where it can reverberate. Stephen’s reminded of a long time ago, a chase with a Gorgonopsid with a back covered in old scars.

“You’re not the only one that thinks that. Now hurry, we have to get to the control room.”

There’s panic, on the other end, but Stephen’s got to focus on getting Connor and Cutter, alive, to the control room so that the former can work his magic and the latter can make a proper ID on whatever creature they’re dealing with, here. Stephen’s used to dealing with a bigger team, than this, used to having non-conflicting orders from a singular source, be it Cutter or Danny, or even Matt when it’s just them in the field, but having Cutter here too is turning this into a nightmare very, very quickly, and Cutter seems to realize this, because his agitation’s only been growing.

Connor’s luck mutation is starting to make a great deal of sense. Stephen just hopes it gets them where they need to be.

* * *

Shoshannah knows that they’re running out of time. With three children scattered in various places around the school they’re not going to be able to do anything for a while. But Connor’s going to take a long time to make the system work, and so Shoshannah grabs the doors, and  _ rips. _

They still don’t make it in time. Shoshannah can smell the blood, and snarls, ruffling her fur out to several times her size. She needs to be something with less penetrable skin, but doesn’t know what could do that and not risk getting bitten, and so, she sticks to her shielding, pulls the thing off of Matt, and  _ crunches. _

She winces at the yelp, and feels the creature go limp between her immense, powerful jaws. She sees the surprise in Becker’s eyes, and drops the limp body of the stem mammal to the ground.

“So that was a-”

_ “Just think venomous synapsid, and you’re good to go.” _

“What’s a synapsid?” Becker asks. Shoshannah cocks her massive canine head, and chuckles.

_ “That. Me. You. Synapsids include any amniote more closely related to modern mammals than modern reptiles and birds. Synapsids have one hole behind each eye, diapsids- reptiles- have two holes behind each eye.” _

“Basically think half reptile, half mammal,” Matt suggests. Shoshannah shakes her head. She’s gone over this with Cutter half a hundred times, she’s not about to let the inaccuracy stand.

_ “That’s inaccurate. Therocephalians are stem mammals, not mammal-like reptiles. They’re closer related to us than they are to Rex.” _

“No time for this. Connor, Cutter, Stephen, you get those kids out of there, Jess can take over the rest. We’ll take the rest of the therocephalians.”

_ “I’m on it,” _ Shoshannah says, ears folded back,  _ “I think I should be able to sniff these things out. Stephen should be able to scent track the boys, too. Teenage boys tend to reek even by a human nose’s standards, we’ve got this.” _

Matt rubs between her ears, though it’s not as easy as it used to be. At the hackles, Shoshannah measures just over fifteen hands, now (and weighs around four, five hundred kilos), and while she’s not as big as, say, Zehavi, who’s the height of a Thoroughbred and weighs as much as a draft horse, she’s still large enough to swing an injured person on top of if they find need for it.

Shoshannah hears Jess’s panic, plain and simple, and smells more, hears more. She resists the urge to tuck her tail between her legs and whine.

* * *

Zehavi manages to pass Rex along to Rebecca before they’re caught, but Lester’s clearly not particularly interested in catching them, either, discomfort rolling off of him in waves. He’s part of the network, part of  _ Sarah’s _ people, part of  _ Abby’s _ people. Sarah knows he doesn’t want this, knows he doesn’t think this is right. And he’s their man, more than he is the government’s, is just as much one of the pack as any of the rest of them.

And Lester, if he does anything, protects his own  _ fiercely. _ Sarah sees it burning in little pits in the back of his eyes, sees it in what would be raised hackles if he was anything like the Moondancers and had a form that would betray what he’s really feeling.

Sarah knows Abby’s speech isn’t needed, because Lester was on their side from the start. Zehavi realizes this, too, wide brown eyes turning jovial despite her lack of connection to everyone else in the room.

Lester’s arguments are much better than any of the rest of theirs could be. Perhaps it’s because it’s not an argument, but instead, a threat, a lazy one, made with the quick dart of a sharp tongue.

In that moment in particular, Sarah finds herself hilariously glad that Lester’s been here from the start, and that the man is as possessive as he is. They really couldn’t have done any of this without him.

* * *

Stephen and Connor run, tracking the boys as best Stephen can, but the scent of fear isn’t perfectly track-able, and it’s not like they’re going to be able to get through whatever else the boys have done to hide themselves from the stem mammal.

For one of those things, they’ve turned on water to hide their breathing. But Stephen hears screaming, and rushes down as quickly as he can, rushes up, too, when he can, follows the sound of clattering.

Shoshannah’s on Matt, giving them updates when she can.

Stephen’s so glad he’s worn his modified running blade, today. If he wore the fancy walking prosthetic he’d gotten a while back, this would be much more difficult.

He can see the boys through the glass, wide-eyed and afraid, and blinks against afterimages of reflections that he knows Connor can’t see.

“Do you think you can break the door down?” Connor asks. Stephen shakes his head.

“Not this kind, now get Jess to start unlocking the doors.”

Jess manages it. Matt gets the stem mammal in the side, while Shoshannah hesitantly makes her way down the stairs, before grabbing the stem mammal and crunching down.

“What is that thing?” one of the boys yelps. Shoshannah’s expression is entirely unimpressed, as she turns, shifts, and replies “Me, now stop cowering in the corner and get to moving, we don’t have much time and we can’t lag like this.”

“Why are you back to human?” Stephen hisses, “We need the size.”

“No, we  _ need _ long-range, or at least mid-range. Matt and I are going to go help Becker, now I’m going to work on some basic shielding. Jess, you’ve got them?”

Connor mutters something about getting to the lab.

* * *

Matt’s glad for the backup, even if she’s mostly rubbish at long-range anything. Shoshannah’s shielding works, for the most part, and she can toss fire at some distance, while the hissed, echoing snarls do more to intimidate the stem mammals than anything else they’ve got is going to. She whines when she hears them yelp, but pushes on, stinging some and electrocuting others and putting herself between Matt and the stem mammals when she can.

The biggest help, though, is in the simple fact that Matt isn’t doing this alone, that instead, there’s someone to watch his back. Shoshannah’s good at keeping people calm (or, at least, she’s gotten better), and Matt can feel that working its magic in the back of his head. She’s floating, assembling charges where she can, and the Moondancer nods, and cocks her head towards the door.

“Becker’s in here,” she whispers, “I can feel it.”

Matt’s not going to mention the fact that he knows. He and Shoshannah drag Becker into a pantry, where the Moondancer’s gone half-feral with worry. Her wolf’s fangs are still in her mouth, and she has blood- stem mammal blood- underneath her fingertips. Matt knows it’ll probably go away once she’s all the way back, but for now, all he can do is bark orders and hopes she follows them.

She does. Shoshannah does her best for last-minute venom antidotes, but Matt arrives quicker with the salt. They can see the gas as it makes its way through. Matt can feel a seal around his mouth and nose, and his eyes, too, and he’s breathing in stale but clean air, not the gas that’s slowly filtering away.

Shoshannah leaves with Becker, lifting him up onto the stretcher smoothly. She’s teary-eyed, though Matt knows it’s not from the gas, and she’s already begun to wear a groove in the floor from her pacing when Matt tells her to just  _ go. _ The thick-furred almost wolf noses at the floor, and races after the ambulance, whining.

Cutter’s not particularly indignant at missing all of the action and taking what’s usually Connor’s job of stabilizing the cameras, but he’s done a rather good job of it.

“I think that’s enough of the field for me for now,” the man says, “I’ll work on the theoreticals again, after this, but I’ve  _ missed _ the action. I suppose I spent too long glorifying it and not enough time remembering how often people died.”

Matt can drink to that.

* * *

Lester’s come through, that much is obvious.

Abby hugs him tightly. Sarah grins, ducking her head.

“You know, underneath it all, you’re actually quite nice,” Abby says, wiping tears away with one hand.

“Repeat that disgraceful slander and you’ll be hearing from my lawyers,” Lester replies, but they all know that there’s a warm humming from the back of his head to the backs of theirs, a feeling of relief and contentment that Sarah doesn’t get to feel all that often anymore. It’s sweet, affection and care. It’s the reassurance that Lester really does care about them, about what happens to them.

Abby tosses her arms over Sarah’s shoulders, and hugs her tightly. Sarah grabs Lester by the arm, and hauls them in. Might as well make it a group thing.

“What exactly did I say about people talking?”

“Most people here know you’re in the Network, Lester, and most of us are used to near constant physical contact with each other at some point.”

“Speaking of which,” Shoshannah says, “I was wondering if anyone wanted to come over for a movie night, tonight? It would be nice to be able to have someone other than Mum, the baby, and the raptors in the house again, it’s getting rather lonely, and I know that all of you don’t mind piling into my home all that much if it involves free food, and honestly? I miss having all of you over every once in a while.”

Shoshannah’s smile is an eager little thing. Sarah agrees on the spot, while Abby instead teases the Moondancer for a little while on her dependency, but otherwise doesn’t kick up much of a fuss about it. The former zookeeper and the Moondancer chat about food for a little while, with the latter promising to bring whatever she’s cooking in so that the whole bullpen can have a bit. Shoshannah absolutely adores cooking, and it shows.

Shoshannah leans her whole body over Abby, looming over the much shorter woman and getting an elbow in the face over it. The Moondancer grins good naturedly and smiles softly, and levers herself up onto the table to chat about Rex, who’s now on her shoulder, having been rescued from some very intrigued hawks.

And just like that, it’s back to normal. Sarah watches as the larger than average Moondancer becomes a larger than average wolf.

Sarah’s always been fascinated with how their sizes are like a sliding rule, from a seventy or so kilo wolf that roughly reaches Sarah’s hip to a four hundred, almost five hundred kilo wolf the size of an average horse. Shoshannah’s control over it seems mostly subconscious, but there is a clear preference for the one large enough to carry more than one grown man.

Sarah’s never seen her and Zehavi or her and Rebecca tussle at full-size, but she imagines it would be rather dramatic.

Shoshannah cocks her head to the side once from where it lays in Abby’s lap. The zookeeper scratches under the ear again, but Shoshannah wriggles out of her grasp.

_ “I’m going to go check on Matt,” _ she says,  _ “I’m not liking the vibes he’s passing out at the moment.” _

Sarah has absolutely no idea what that means.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i switched up some things last minute in here, but it's still sweet and cute, and I'm finished writing 4x07 so there is... a lot... of content to post


	17. smooth-skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nina is called. she does not pick up the phone for a while, but she *is* called.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is one of several chapters that's getting posted now

“We should be out there looking for them  _ both _ ,” Matt says, leaning forwards. Lester sighs, and looks out the window, making eye contact with both of the Moondancers who appear to be eagerly listening in on their conversation, if the guilty looks are suggesting anything.

The alarm blares, and both of the wolves and Stephen wince. Lester’s reminded for a moment that of  _ course _ they’d wince, they’ve turned down the alarm to the point where it’s noticed but not overpowering to all of those who have normal hearing levels, but it’s drastically more to Stephen’s sensitive ears, and while their wolves don’t quite have his hearing, they’re closer.

And clearly, Stephen hasn’t worn his earplugs today. What a shame. Lester spent quite a bit of money making sure he had duplicates to spare. He does pop them back in as soon as he can manage it, though, which means he’s been snooping, too.

“What’s up with  _ that? _ ” Stephen asks, as the anomaly alarm turns off and on and off again. Connor turns the volume of the alarm off.

“Signal must be fluctuating,” Connor says.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen an anomaly do that before unless it was Fading,” Cutter replies, leaning forwards, “Connor-”

“You’re not going in the field again, Cutter, not after what happened last time,” Lester interrupts, “They’ll take extensive readings and photographs once they’ve arrived, but you’re  _ not _ going.”

Cutter huffs, but doesn’t kick up much of a fuss beyond that. Lester orders the field team out, but narrows his eyes at Stephen and Shoshannah so that they get the hint that today, ‘field team’ does not include  _ them. _

“Abby and Connor can handle this. Right now, I need to find Emily and Ethan,” Matt says, closing the door to Lester’s office and refusing to sit.

“Right now, your place is out in the field,” Lester says, “Go. Don’t worry, I have a plan to clean up your mess.”

“She’s my responsibility,” Matt replies, eyes narrowed. Lester looks up at him.

“ _ Our _ responsibility. We’re a team. I think it’s really about time you understood that.”

Matt leaves. Lester calls the two Moondancers and their resident tracker into the room in his place, and looks at Matt’s confused face through the glass of the window.

The realization dawns on the man as he looks to the three in turn, and nods sharply.

Good. It’s about time Matt trusted him about  _ something. _

“Listen,” he tells the three in front of his desk, who nod as one, “Shoshannah, you know Lady Merchant’s scent while the other two most certainly do not. Sokol, you’re there for backup, Stephen is there for experience. All three of you need to-”

“Work together as efficiently as we can manage to find them? We’re on it, sir,” Shoshannah cuts in. Lester sighs. She’s gotten better about it, but she’s still  _ terribly _ impatient. They’ll have to work on it.

“I was going to say ‘be quiet about it because we don’t know what time this ‘Ethan’ is from, and we don’t know what either of them knows, and we can’t let this sort of information out to the general populace’,” Lester replies. Shoshannah cringes apologetically.

“Now, please take care of this, so I can assure Matt his time-traveling flatmate is perfectly safe?” Lester asks. The three nod, and turn in unison. Shoshannah’s skin this time is a bloodhound, wrinkled all over. She’s voiced her distaste for shifting the breed before, since if she doesn’t have a perfect working specimen to shift  _ from _ problems can pop up at the worst of times, but-

But there aren’t any better, when it comes to scent tracking.

Lester recognizes the familiar low burn of determination in those droopy eyes, and the grit of teeth behind that jowly, drooly snout.

No, Matt doesn’t need to worry about his time-traveling friend not being discovered in time. These three are most certainly up to the task.

* * *

It doesn’t seem right, to only have three of them here. Matt’s used to at the very least having Becker at his back, ready to swap with one of their scientists if the both of them need protection, or Stephen with Connor and Abby, hand on a stun gun, or Shoshannah scouting ahead, thick fur blowing in the wind or pale feathers flashing in the breeze.

He feels the anxiousness of the other two, and reaches out, fiddling like he’s got fabric between his fingers and needs to decide what to do with it. Connor and Abby reach back in his direction, lightning-quick, and for a moment, Matt  _ hears- _

_ ‘So, I think I’ve picked up a scent here-’ _

_ ‘The anomaly’s signal is down again, it should pop back up soon enough, though. Jess is doing an excellent job-’ _

_ ‘Are you all sure that I shouldn’t be there? I could work with the locals, take leads from there-’ _

_ ‘Sarah, we’re  _ not _ letting you out in the field again, not after what happened last time-’ _

_ ‘I’m fine, stop being overprotective-’ _

_ ‘We all love you, Sarah, but Becker’s right, you’re not safe in the field at this point, and Zehavi and I can’t go with you-’ _

_ ‘Nose to the ground, kid.’ _

Matt pauses for a moment, eyes locked with Connor and Abby, a hand braced against the wall as the  _ voices _ flicker through his head. He feels something  _ click _ into place, but pulls back against it, like he’s swimming against a riptide. The others reach out, as if to pull him back in, like they’re saying  _ no no please come back we can make this work- _

But there’s an empty space like a shrine in the middle of their network, a nest of fractured connections, and they can’t make space until it’s filled. Matt won’t make them do that, not when they’re still grieving, not when they still have  _ hope. _

_ ‘Sarah can come,’ _ he pushes after a moment’s silence, eight-who-were-once-ten quiet, for once in any of their lives. He pulls away, steps back, and severs the connection cleanly.

It’ll keep them all from shattering, once he does what must be done.

* * *

Abby really wishes she had Stephen’s nose or ears right now. There’s something about this place, the persistent pulse of  _ too quiet _ that rattles along the back of her spine, that unnerves her. Abby wishes that she could see the little stains and cracks and hear the whistle through the trees, every little twig-snap, like their tracker can. But Stephen’s not here, pulled away on some sort of business Lester asked him to attend to that he’s being rather hush-hush about, and Abby doesn’t have his nose or his eyes or his ears, which means she’ll have to settle for her own.

Sometimes Abby wonders if she was a plant in a past life, because the sun against her skin today feels like life and glory, the swirl of the cosmos put to a canvas. She closes her eyes against it, sees the red of her eyelids and the corona of the sun in blue placed against them.

She nearly steps into a puddle of slime.

“I don’t know any farm animal that produces a mucus like that,” Abby hisses. Connor smiles.

“Maybe it’s a giant snail,” he says, light playing through his eyes, “At last, a creature we’ll be able to outrun.”

Abby wants to laugh, she really does, but something stops her. Connor bumps her shoulder reassuringly when there’s a rattling noise. Abby opens the door, and Connor walks through first.

Abby smells petrol, on her fingers. She wishes again for Stephen, who’d’ve been able to sniff it out in moments.

“Turn around,” a woman hisses in Abby’s ear. She turns, puts her gun down, takes her earpiece out, and reaches for Matt to warn him, but is abruptly rebuffed.

Connor starts to bluff by being entirely honest. They make it out just in time, though, thanks to a lucky intervention.

Abby’s grateful that innocuous things like that are how Connor’s powers manifest themselves, because she doesn’t want to get new tetanus shots.

“Matt won’t listen right now, he nearly  _ connected _ with the network and I think it spooked him,” she says. They manage to slide down the bank without injury.

“Amphibian. Short legs, wide head.”

“Labyrinthodont, most likely a temnospondyl. Abby, could you-”

“I’m already on it,” Abby says, moving to her ear to ask Jess.

“Nevermind, I’m not. Matt, could you call this number? It would be good to have an expert on large amphibians on the phone.”

“Did you- nevermind. I’ll call-”

“Doctor Griffin, she works with the Boston office, has a Prionosuchus named Leroy as one of her long term patients.”

Matt hands Abby a burner phone. Instead of asking why the man has a burner phone, she makes the call.

“Lester wants to trade out Stephen for me, I’ll head back and he’ll be here soon enough. I know you two are more used to working with him anyways, but you’ll have to keep yourselves safe until he gets there.”

“We can do that,” Connor replies chipperly. Abby resists the urge to say  _ we don’t need babysitting _ .

* * *

Jess thinks that the control room is rather quiet without Zehavi’s commentary or the raptors’ eager chirping. The wolves haven’t made much progress, losing Ethan’s scent quickly and Emily’s scent even more so. It’s like he’s doubled back on himself a dozen times, realizing they might be able to track him that way. Philip tries to take over, but Lester re-orders them.

“Connor, you have to understand how important this is-”

“I’ll head with Stephen out to the anomaly,” Cutter offers, “So then-”

“No, I’ll head out with him. Cutter, the terrain is slippery and this week has been filled with bad days. You may be back to running most of the time, but you pulled your back badly less than a week ago and the only reason you’ve not been put on medical leave is the fact that you’re not in the field,” Sarah cuts in, “I’ll be able to go with Abby when it comes to the Worm, so then Connor and Stephen can check out the anomaly. None of us should be doing this alone, we all know that better than most.”

There’s a lilt to her voice, there, like there’s no question of anyone misunderstanding what she’s talking about. The timbre of her voice screams  _ one of us is lost in time with none to keep him from shattering _ , a sound, an expression, something that Jess has gotten used to hearing.

Sarah’s expression says  _ I will not tolerate any of this nonsense. _

Stephen runs into the control room, and grabs Sarah by the hand before racing out again. Jess’s phone buzzes- a photo of her with a mug piled high with chocolate shavings appears on screen for a moment, before she shuts it off.

Abby’s found the creature, and Connor’s on the anomaly front, which leaves… Matt. And the Moondancers. And, because of the fact that Ethan led them on a wild goose chase for several hours, that means Matt’s going to have to pick the Moondancers up.

She leaves Lester in charge of that, and hears back from Zehavi in the back of her head before long, concern and gentleness, but concern above all of the rest of what she’s been feeling. Jess sinks back into it, for a moment, trusting, knowing that Zehavi won’t do anything that might even possibly involve hurting her.

* * *

The anomaly is in a sea cave. That’s interesting, but not particularly surprising. They’ve never shown any inclination for above or below ground, or altitude, which makes Connor wonder how many anomalies have opened and shut kilometers below the earth, leaving stranded travelers trapped with no air, desperate for something to open back to home. Connor shakes his head and regrets even considering the concept, instead worming his way down towards the shore. If one of the magic-users, hell, even if Lester had been here, maybe Connor could have just floated down instead. Alas, they’re most certainly not, which means Connor trusts his mutation far more than is probably healthy and jumps down directly, hoping that he won’t bust anything vital open on the earth. Of course, he doesn’t, because he’s  _ lucky, _ and that’s how his luck works, but it’s always important to keep such things in mind so that he doesn’t get too cocky and run the risk of that ever present luck finally running out for once.

There’s iron ore, down here, in the cave, which is strange, but not overly so. No, what’s more bizarre is the gated entrance over the cave in the back, and the weak rattle of a growl from another creature, another labyrinthodont. There’s an anomaly back here, fluttering weakly. Stephen growls in the back of Connor’s head for him to stay put, wait for Sarah (because it’ll be Sarah coming to join him, not Stephen, not yet- Stephen will be helping Abby, since her job’s more dangerous).

They’ll be here in a few minutes. Connor’s already waited long enough, it’s taken  _ forever, _ it seems, to find this anomaly.

Soon enough, Sarah is there.

“Is that acid?” she asks. Connor and Philip bounce off of each other, for a moment, before there’s another creature, wailing.

“I’ll try to move it,” Sarah says, “I think I can melt the bars, it might not be able to get out of here.”

_ “But where’s the acid coming from?” _ Philip asks. Connor scrunches his nose.

“I think it came from the farm. That woman and her son were dumping something down here, they were definitely up to something-”

He’s cut off by a swing to Sarah’s face, which he sees out of the corner of his eye, and a swing to his own.

_ ‘Don’t flame up, we don’t want this whole place to go up,’ _ he manages to get across. Sarah’s groan is quiet in response.

Connor manages to sit up when the man’s mother comes in, and loses it over the worm. The anger of half a dozen other people gives him the energy to stand.

“I know what you’re doing,” he says, voice rising, “I know you’re stripping the dye from farm diesel so you can sell it as commercial fuel.”

“Mum did what she had to do,” the son says, “And so did I.”

The realization hits Connor like a hammer to a piece of folded metal, shaping the next words that wriggle their ways from his mouth. 

“You opened the gate,” he says with mounting horror, “You  _ let _ that kid on the headland get  _ eaten. _ You basically murdered him!”

This is about the time that Connor would  _ really _ like Mr. Dramatic- any one of the four of them, really, though only three are options now- to say something spectacular. Danny would be best, at this very moment, a quick mind and a chipper tone that could switch to authoritative at any given moment, but Cutter would be excellent, too. All Connor has right now is his own desperation, and the network’s weaving holding him together, and Sarah’s low-burning flame pulling light into the cave.

_ “Abby should be standing right in front of you,” _ Jess says. But she’s not, and she’s still alive, which means something weird’s gone on.

* * *

One of the wolves races ahead of him. Zehavi limps besides, a knife wound in her side that’s rapidly knitting shut, but has knocked her out of any fights for the next few days for certain. Matt almost ordered Shoshannah to run after Ethan, but figures, just in case, that having one of them with both opposable thumbs and enhanced strength to help out Emily is probably the best idea. The Moondancer’s limping, loping stride is still quick- not surprising, given how truly immense she is in this form. If Matt hadn’t seen it himself, he’d be sure she’s faking the deep slice down her ribcage. Her fur isn’t as thick as Shoshannah’s, is- in fact, it’s rather thin, everywhere except for her ruff, which is probably the only reason why Zehavi’s not dead right now from a different aiming point.

Matt mutters a quiet apology to the Cameron family as the door to the crypt is ripped right off its hinges. Zehavi stands when she probably shouldn’t, smaller and less furry and just as quick to heal but with a proportionally larger injury.

“Ah- it’s fine, it’s fine. I’m alright. He got me with a serrated knife, I’ll probably have a- ah! Gnarled scar for a little while, but I-  _ shit _ \- I heal fast.”

Shoshannah cocks her head towards a sound, and she and Matt race to open a tomb. The cover smashes against the opposite wall.

There’s a feeling of warmth and safety that rolls through the room like a cloud, and for the first time, Matt realizes he doesn’t mind the way the other telepaths’ heads wrap around his own. Emily gasps.

“Oh,” she says, “I didn’t realize-  _ oh _ .”

She doesn’t click right into place either, but her eyes are soft and her hands are strong, and she clings to the rest of them, crying.

“Hate to break up a nice moment,” Zehavi grunts, “But I think I need immediate medical attention.”

That opens a completely different can of worms.

* * *

Sarah sighs as the two lovebirds make a pass at one another, and speaks up.

“Well, let’s get going, see what they’ve found, shall we?” she asks, “And Connor, I do believe you still have to talk to Philip.”

“Don’t remind me,” Connor groans, “I think you made a good showing, out here, they might let you back out on the field, you know.”

Sarah laughs.

“Don’t get my hopes up, Conn. Let’s just head home,” she says, bumping Stephen’s shoulder as he mutters irritably about the possibility of sand in his prosthetic.

It feels right, the four of them, four of eight of what should be ten. Something buzzes, though, right there, the kind of feeling that screams  _ I know, I know, I know. _ Sarah has no premonition abilities, but she knows something is going to happen, and soon.

“Oh, look!” Abby says, “Dr. Griffin finally called me back. Now I get to tell her I woke her up for no reason.”

Sarah snorts. That’s most certainly  _ not _ it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so tired. anyways, once we get past s4, there's going to be a *lot* more collaboration between teams.


	18. the severing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4x06! also, zehavi starts being more prominent, now!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> having fun right now!

Matt feels like someone’s watching him.

Gideon seems to just  _ know _ , in that regard. His smile quirks up at the edges of his mouth, and he casts his own eyes around for the culprit. Maybe it’s a camera, affixed to the wall in a little out-of-the-way place where it can broadcast signals of Matt and Gideon’s conversation to whatever curious eyes may see it fit to watch them. Maybe it’s lurker on some roof or in some tree. Maybe, someone’s watching them through binoculars, listening through a bug.

A bird calls, and Gideon laughs at the sound, but Matt frowns. He’s gotten used to listening to Shoshannah describe bird calls and how to identify them by ear, has gotten used to her complaints about how no, eagles do  _ not _ , in fact, sound like red-tailed hawks, but instead-

The sound is a sharp yelping noise, repeated over and over again, a screechy, whistling noise.

“That’s a golden eagle,” he tells Gideon, who looks at him curiously.

“Really?” he asks, “I’ve always wanted to see a wild one. Figures that as I’m dying, I get to.”

“Golden eagles aren’t native this far south,” Matt replies, casting his eyes around for the characteristically massive bird.

“Then how is it-”

“Two of the people I work with are shape-shifters,” he replies, hissing under his breath.

“But we thought that those sorts of mutations didn’t happen until-”

“After,” Matt says, “But no, they have it, and it  _ would _ be a good explanation for why-”

He’s silenced by the movement of truly massive wings, the thud of a creature the size of his torso on the frail metal table.

“Hello, Zehavi,” Matt says, making an educated guess, and moving to give the eagle scritches on the top of her head.

_ “Hello, Matt,” _ she replies,  _ “Care to explain what you’re plotting?” _

“No, no I don’t.”

_ “Oh, too bad. Looks like I might have to involve the rest after all,”  _ Zehavi hums, nibbling at Matt’s fingers but not actually taking any of them off with her powerful beak.

“Didn’t know you had a golden eagle form.”

_ “One of Rebecca’s old falconry demonstration birds. That eagle was older than she was, actually. Her mother’s bird before her. Died a couple years back. Rebecca won’t shift her, so I will.” _

Gideon’s eyes are wide and afraid, but he reaches out with shaking fingers to smooth down Zehavi’s back feathers.

_ “I can bring a real one here if you like, you know, but I think we’d wish to talk, first.” _

Gideon frowns. Zehavi shifts, and takes a seat at the small table.

“Hello, my name is Zehavi Sokol, I work with your son,” she says. Matt stares.

“You figured that out fast, considering how hard we tried to bury it,” he says weakly. Zehavi’s laugh is a barking sound, sharp and quick, and it flashes a rather impressive set of fangs in her halfway form.

“Can’t hide scent, Matt. Anyways,” she says, going from jovial to serious in an instant, “I don’t know what you’re worried about, but I want a heads-up, and I want to try to help. You’re dying, I can smell it on you, and I don’t even know what  _ this _ is, but it’s too big for one person to do alone. And- and I trust Matt, stupid as it seems. I’m not connected to the network, and my shields are better than his- speaking of, you need to work on those, they might do well enough against a basic scan but any sort of directed attack and you’re fucked- and I want to  _ help _ .”

There’s something strange in her voice. Matt leans forwards.

“You said you’re leaving, soon,” Matt says.

_ “I don’t want to.” _

The admission comes out in a rush, and Zehavi sighs.

“Enough about me. I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but I do know I trust you, and I also know that if you need any alarms to be pulled, the cords for mine most likely go much higher than your own. I can successfully mimic most people enough to fool all but their closest acquaintances, I can track reasonably well, though we’ve already proven that scent tracking in a heavily populated area is a terrible idea. I also, and this is important: am not going to sell you out.”

Matt looks at his father. His father looks back at him.

“She knows we’re up to something anyways,” his father says tiredly, “Might as well get yourself some help with this.”

“Alright,” Matt says, and pushes outwards, “This is what you need to know.”

“Matt, are you sure-”

“I understand,” Zehavi says, eyes flashing, “I won’t tell anyone if you ask me not to. Although, I would be more worried about Philip and Connor than I’d be about Ethan, though. If I’m being honest- he’s a bit small-time. Kills a bunch of people, sure, but not much more than that. Philip, though- there’s nothing worse than a man who’s smart, knows it, but doesn’t know the consequences. And he did pull Connor onto some sort of secret project recently.”

“Really?” Matt asks, shooting his father an ‘I told you so’ sort of look, “What kind of secret project?”

They talk for quite the while. Finally, before she leaves in a swirl of brown and golden feathers, Zehavi clasps Matt’s hand in hers.

“To saving the world,” she says, a soft smile upon her face.

“To saving the world,” Matt agrees.

* * *

Shoshannah doesn’t know why, exactly, this place feels so strange. It’s nice, though, and she says as much.

“Now’s not the time,” Connor replies. Shoshannah blinks. He’s been acting shady- everyone’s been acting shady recently, actually. Zehavi’s stayed in the car with Emily, because apparently Matt trusts her with whatever he’s been hiding recently now, Connor’s been trading secrets with Philip, Sarah- no, Sarah’s just been flirting with Emily for the past long while, she’s not hiding anything. Jess isn’t hiding anything either. Cutter and Stephen are quieter than usual, but that’s because they started dating months ago and aren’t ready to hear the ‘I told you so’s.

Becker’s not quiet, either. Abby’s not in a good mood, today, but she’s not keeping any secrets.

Shoshannah thinks that if she hadn’t known these people as well as she does, she might not have picked up on it, but most members of the team aside from the newcomers have had a formative role in her adult life. She’s known them for a sixth of her life right now. That tends to leave a few important pieces behind.

“Did you hear that?” Connor asks. Shoshannah cocks her head, and nods.

“It’s the anomaly,” she whispers back, but there’s something  _ else _ , too. She can’t shift, not in a space this small, not when her smaller sized form will leave her exposed without a weapon and her larger sized form can’t fit in the hallway. The hair on the back of her neck stands up. Shoshannah lets out a rather undignified nervous whine.

Connor shoots whatever comes through the anomaly. It’s got tan fur, and there seems to be no difference between the brain case and the muzzle, not like the sharp brow that marks her own.

“Male hyaenodon,” Abby notes.

“Alright, then,” Shoshannah replies, and looks to Matt.

“Let’s split up. Abby, with me, Shoshannah, with Connor. No splitting into any groups smaller than pairs, no running off alone.”

“Yes sir,” Shoshannah replies, and follows Connor diligently. There’s a familiar voice, a tug Shoshannah hasn’t felt on the edge of the network for years, and-

“Jenny?” she asks, eyes wide. Connor and Abby ask the same thing, and Shoshannah gets to watch real-time as Jenny has a freak-out.

“The anomaly’s locked, and we’ve already dealt with the incursion,” Abby says. Matt makes a good point, but stronger people have crumbled under the pressure of Jenny.

“And what the hell, you’re all invited to the wedding,” Jenny replies. Shoshannah cocks her head.

“ _ All _ of us? Because it’s not just us, here. Sarah’s in the car fussing over a time-traveler.”

“And Cutter?”

“Back at the ARC.”

“Stephen?”

“Also back at the ARC, acting as extra security and currently-  _ ow, Stephen you’re not the only one here with enhanced hearing, please shut up _ \- shouting  _ loud _ congratulations for you into my ear.”

“Isn’t he dating Cutter, now?” Abby wonders aloud. Connor glares.

“What? It’s important for her to be caught up on what’s happened since she left.”

“Yeah, but we’re not supposed to  _ mention _ it because they  _ asked us not to- _ ”

“It’s Jenny, not Philip,” Shoshannah replies, “Cutter literally just said it’s fine.”

“Tell them congratulations for me,” Jenny hums. Shoshannah cocks her head, pulls her earpiece out, and turns the volume all the way up.

“Tell them yourself!”

* * *

She’s really trying to keep it quiet, isn’t she.

Jenny’s awkward grins and the way she hushes away their guns earns raised eyebrows- from Sarah, too, now that she’s joined them properly.

“Drink?” Jenny asks. Shoshannah follows anyways, inclines her head when Emily comes through the door, Zehavi on her heels, and spikes  _ do not say a single word _ , though it’s enough to spook her and make her say the wrong thing. Jenny’s panic swirls through the network.

Shoshannah shrugs apologetically.

“Normally, I’d follow them to see if Emily is alright, but honestly? If I  _ could _ get drunk, I would do so  _ right _ now, today has been  _ bizarre. _ ”

Jenny’s fiance snorts at that, and offers up a grin. Shoshannah sits on Connor’s other side, looming over his shoulder.

Connor, of course, because he’s Connor, puts his foot in his mouth.

They stay there for hours.

“Girls only,” Jenny laughs, “Emily, Zehavi, would you like to come too?”

Matt and Zehavi trade an odd look. Yeah, they’re definitely plotting something.

“Abby, let’s see… you’re about my sister-in-law’s size, you try… this one. Emily, Sarah, just go for it. Shoshannah-”

“Nobody carries anything in my size. It’s okay, though, I popped back home a little after you said I was invited, grabbed  _ this _ -” Shoshannah replies, pulling out a dark blue suit, “I got invited to a wedding in Boston a little while ago, my cousin asked if I could come since we don’t hang out with each other that often. I do hope it’ll work.”

“It’s lovely,” Jenny says, “Zehavi, you are shorter, but still-”

“I’ve already got one as well,” Zehavi says, “I think Jess might be a little jealous that we’re all here but she’s not, but she’s busy fussing over Becker’s eating habits.”

They talk for a long, long while. Emily comes clean about her century of birth, to absolutely zero surprise, while Sarah flirts with her more. Eventually, roughly halfway through the night, she seems to break through some layer of nervousness, and Emily begins to flirt back.

Matt arrives to steal Zehavi and Emily for a quick conversation. Sarah groans, and leans back against her chair.

“I’m glad there’s little chance they’d become  _ a thing _ . I would not be able to handle the whining from Jess if Matt stole her girlfriend  _ and _ one of the few other available sapphics.”

“But they’re  _ not _ into each other,” Shoshannah replies, “And even if they were, Zehavi would talk about it with Jess  _ first _ . You’ve seen how sappy Jess can get? Trust me, Zehavi is  _ worse. _ Infinitely worse.”

“You’ve not mentioned Emily, though.”

“Emily isn’t exactly in a relationship-starting position at the moment. They’re just plotting,” Abby cuts in.

“You’re probably right,” Shoshannah hums, before cocking her head, “But why is Jess panicking? I’m going to head down, ask Zehavi to check it out. S’her girlfriend that’s asking for backup, after all.”

Shoshannah hears yapping, but ignores the sound, sinking down into a silent flier with excellent hearing, a moon-white disk on a golden body.

She hears too much, and not enough- enough to know that Matt  _ is _ up to something, not enough to know why he knows something is going to go wrong so soon. Her talons tighten around a branch until it begins to splinter under her.

Zehavi must hear. Her eyes scan the trees for something, anything unusual, and her torchlight shines through the grove.

_ ‘Close your eyes!’ _ Shoshannah shouts at herself, but it’s too late. Barn owls have excellent hearing, but the eyes give her away, shining as they reflect the light, and glowing golden when the light flickers away.

“Hello, Shoshannah,” Zehavi calls, “I do hope you know well enough to keep this quiet. I’d hate to have to wipe your mind.”

Shoshannah feels Connor’s spike in panic before she has to answer, and flies to it automatically. But she can’t exactly drag him out through the little window, no matter if she can slip through it or not.

“I’m going to go get Matt, you stay here,” she hisses, and searches.

“Not going anywhere!” Connor yells. Shoshannah, being exhausted and just having dealt with a relatively massive shock, doesn’t think to just… telepathically warn anyone… for hours. There’s something off, though. She thinks it must be the low level of constant panic that Becker’s been giving off for the last several hours, because her headache is  _ awful _ .

“I’m going to go to sleep,” she says aloud, and does so, halfway into the window of the girls’ room. She can’t hear Connor’s cursing in the wine cellar below.

* * *

“I’m forgetting something,” Shoshannah whispers to her as the ceremony begins, “I’m sure of it. Becker’s been panicking, though, and Cutter and Stephen aren’t exactly happy about missing this, so maybe that’s it?”

Sarah turns back to the Moondancer, and shrugs.

“Must not have been that important, if you’ve forgotten it,” she says. Shoshannah still looks uncomfortable, and slams a hand to her mouth when Connor bursts into the room.

_ “I forgot Connor in the cellar,” _ she hisses. The Hyaenodon make their way into the room, and the two Moondancers burst into action, sharp teeth and claws and massive size giving them quite the edge against the smaller, lighter Hyaenodon.

The larger of the two is pinned quickly by Zehavi’s wolf form’s massive bulk, claws against its chest. Shoshannah gets to work on rounding up the pups with Sarah’s help, grabbing them by the scruffs of their necks. The other Hyaenodon lands in the middle of the room, a hard fall from the stairs. Jenny waves down at them, while the Moondancer wags her tail in response, mouth too full of Hyaenodon pup scruff to do anything but place a paw on the tan coat of the adult Hyaenodon.

They manage to marry Michael and Jenny after all, a cute little ceremony in the wreckage of the original one, with Lester presiding. Emily swings an arm over Sarah’s shoulders, a giddy expression on her face. Sarah recalls what she’s said to Matt earlier, that she’s married, though unhappily, and resolves to give the other woman as much space as she needs. There’s something in Emily’s expression, something she sees in Zehavi’s, too, now that she takes the time to think about it. The woman from the nineteenth century and the older of their two Moondancers both look at the rest of the team wistfully, as if it causes them physical pain to do so, as if they’re staring at the sun and it’s blinding them.

“Hey,” Emily says. Sarah inclines her head towards her. There’s something uncomfortable, hidden below her shoulders, in the tenseness of her spine.

“My father arranged the match,” she says, “It was a good one.”

“For everyone except you,” Sarah says, and squeezes the other woman’s hand, “You know, if you stay in this time, you get to call yourself a widow, not a married woman.”

Emily’s smile is a fragile thing.

“I have to go back eventually,” she says.

“But you don’t want to,” Sarah finishes for her. Emily shakes her head, tears in her eyes.

“Emily, nobody’s going to force you to go back if you don’t want to,” Sarah says, “You need to know that. It’s your decision, and just for the record, everyone here, everyone on the team- we love you, alright?”

Emily’s tears begin to fall, now. Sarah wraps her arms around the other woman’s shoulders.

“I have to do something first,” Emily says, “But I might just take you up on that offer.”

* * *

Shoshannah looks at Jenny, so happy, now, so ready for this new chapter in her life, and nods.

The break is a clean sever, not messy like the time split had been. She removes it from Jenny’s side, first, then from her own, and lets it vanish.

Danny’s empty space still sits like an abandoned shrine in the network, but at least they’re not making space for someone else to come back who never will, now.

* * *

Zehavi knows well enough that all three of them are working on ticking clocks.

Matt, of course, has the most pressing deadline of them all. That tends to be the stressful sort of thing. Zehavi’s met world-savers before- quite a few, in fact- but none of them have ever seemed as…  _ normal… _ as Matt. Relatively speaking, compared to the average world-saver, he’s an outlier in the fact that he’s competent, but not ridiculously overpowered like some she’s met.

Emily’s deadline is less permanent, more up-in-the-air, but it still swirls around her like fog, thick and seeded with guilt. It seems to be the only thing she’s thinking of, at this point, beyond perhaps catching Ethan. She hops from foot to foot, distinctively uncomfortable.

And Zehavi?

Zehavi remembers when she’d been asked to join the team, when she’d asked Aviv, and Aviv had spoken back to her. Zehavi had asked  _ when will I know it is time? _ And Aviv had answered, plain and simple. And Zehavi hopes beyond hope that she simply misunderstood, or  _ Aviv _ misunderstood, because Zehavi knows what killer she will hunt to the end of time, feels his name vibrate under her chest like the most dire of warnings.

And perhaps it will be something different. Perhaps Ethan won’t be it, perhaps Zehavi will hunt someone else through and beyond, perhaps it will be someone else, in a future that might never come, that will find themselves between her jaws.

But Zehavi knows, knows better than she should, that it’s only wishful thinking that is telling her that much. She knows that she’ll have to choose, when she comes back, who she listens to. Because like she’d told Matt, so long ago now, one does not deny the Queen of Crows when one is asked for, even if one is the Queen of Crows’ own grand-daughter.

Perhaps, though- perhaps she will have to do it, tell her grandmother that she can’t participate in whatever scheme she’s cooked up to defend the pack.   
This, Zehavi thinks, as she watches Matt’s father take his final breaths, is more important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm still very tired, and I've also got so much content on this. pretty sure 20 is going to be entirely a not-episode. s5 is going to happen, and then I'm going to do a lot of character work, before finally completing this fic and working on other WIPs and sidefics.


	19. return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> danny's back!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well. this is a thing

Something almost giddy is in the air today. Becker can feel it, rolling its way through, the same sort of feeling they’d gotten on the day Abby and Connor had returned. It’s the feeling of  _ right, correct, the time is soon _ that rattles through his skin.

The others can feel it too, he knows that much. Becker doesn’t know if it’s because of how connected they are, or if it’s because of their connections to the anomalies, or perhaps another half-dozen reasons, but he  _ knows _ .

He doesn’t know quite what it means. It  _ could _ , of course, mean that Danny’s coming back, but it could mean that they’re finally going to connect with Matt- and  _ properly _ this time- soon. Matt’s sunken in to the position of field team leader better than they ever could have guessed. Even Cutter’s impressed, and Cutter’s rather difficult to impress.

But it doesn’t feel right, to let someone in without asking Danny first, and they can’t exactly do that  _ now _ , given that he’s stuck millions of years in the past, which leaves Matt and Jess and even now Emily in limbo.

Lester makes a joke about thirteen not being a lucky number. Zehavi goes into a long-winded explanation over why it isn’t unlucky, actually, and that’s when Becker realizes that they’ve sunken in.

Connor goes to explain something to Abby. Becker doesn’t listen in on what they’re saying, because it feels like he’s been kicked in the chest by a horse. Or one of Zehavi’s back paws in her Thoroughbred-sized wolf form. Actually, it’s more the latter, because Becker feels like his head’s being shattered to ribbons along with his chest, because he can feel  _ Danny,  _ there, but it’s not like it should be on the other side of an anomaly, it’s not like even the muted feeling of the other side of a locked anomaly. Instead, it’s-

Garbled.

But it’s enough. They get closer, and closer, and the feeling grows stronger and stronger, and it’s only when they’ve already arrived in the museum that it shuts off properly. Becker now feels like he’s been stomped on and kicked and ripped to shreds, mentally and metaphorically thinking. He raises his weapon to shoot without thinking, before there’s a hurried, and loud, and frantic  _ WAIT- _

It’s a terror bird.

“I know you,” Shoshannah says, stepping forwards, “I know you, I know you,  _ I know you _ -”

The terror bird steps forwards, heavy beak outstretched, nervous and ill-looking (though it’s Shoshannah that realizes that, not him).

The bird’s eyes widen in surprise, and it chitters, nosing at her hands, and clucks, and turns back through the anomaly. Then, it steps backwards, waits a few moments, and steps through yet again.

This time, the terror bird breaks into an all-out run. The kicked-to-shreds feeling that Becker is currently experiencing finally seems to kick in for the teenager, because she moves to the corner to expel her breakfast, but soon enough turns back, chipper. Her eyes are brighter than they’ve been in months, and she practically vibrates with uncontainable amounts of energy.

“If that’s what I think it was-”

“Titanis walleri, one of the individuals from the safe house, specifically, and that’s weird, but it does make sense, my cousin dealt with an Allosaurus that I dealt with years ago only a few months back, and you’ve dealt with the same gorgonopsid twice,” Shoshannah interrupts, breathing hard.

“Then your calculator’s what? Only a few  _ million  _ years out?”

“To be fair, the planet is four and a half billion years old, and we don’t know how long anomalies have been a thing for,” Shoshannah replies, “But yeah, no, you definitely should have tested that on one of the long-terms we know well.”

“I  _ did _ ,” Connor says, “I tested it on the Sun Cage Anomaly, came back Eocene. I tested it on a half-dozen Mesozoic anomalies. I tested it on a few Permian anomalies.”

“Oh, then it’s the calibration that needs work,” Abby replies, “Those, a few million years off isn’t much trouble. Once you get to the right time, though, ten, twenty thousand years is the difference between a mammoth and a Future Predator.”

“Yeah, humans have only been a thing for about two hundred thousand years,” Connor says, “I need to work on anomalies that link to relatively modern periods.”

“Strange it went specifically to the 1870’s, though,” Shoshannah replies, “I mean, if it’s going to be off, sure, but wouldn’t it be vague, not that specific?”

* * *

“I don’t want to go home,” Emily tells her, “I know I have to, but I don’t  _ want _ to.”

“Hey,” Zehavi replies, and Matt nods, “If you genuinely don’t want to, nobody’s going to make you.

“I need to see my father,” Emily says, “I can’t- I can’t just stay here and not say goodbye to him, no matter what he’s done.”

She plays with the radio. Zehavi frowns, wonders why she’s taking it apart and putting it back together with such familiarity.

“That’s a wind-up radio,” Matt says, “Generates its own power.”

“I know what it is,” Emily says, and  _ why would she know that- _ “We used one to find gateways.”

Matt stiffens.  _ Zehavi _ stiffens.

“Jess!” Matt calls, and makes his way up the stairs. Zehavi stops by the control panel, and kisses Jess. There’s something final in the air, and she wants to make sure that, no matter what happens, the computer genius knows she’s loved.

Jess’s eyes narrow, and her breath hitches with realization, a hidden sob. Zehavi knows that  _ Jess _ knows that this might very well be it, that they might very well be closing in on the end of it all here, and she kisses Jess again like she can tell the other woman with this alone that she doesn’t want to go, that she doesn’t want to leave her, that she wants to stay.

“Stay safe,” Jess tells her, squeezing her hand tightly, “Please. For me.”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Zehavi replies, and turns her head to the raptors in the bullpen, “Keep her safe, or it’s your tail on the line.”

The raptor’s chirps in reply sound suspiciously like  _ ma’am yes ma’am. _

* * *

Shoshannah’s been ordered to stay with Becker and Abby, as the terror birds recognize the  _ entire _ team as friends, not food, to paraphrase Finding Nemo. The terror bird, though- it’s the same lead male. The exact same lead male, the same one from the safe house. She waves hello, and indicates the anomaly behind him.

_ “You’ve got to be kidding me,” _ he replies,  _ “Again? Really? Nest-watcher said these were bizarre, but I thought he was exaggerating.” _

The male huffs and turns back through the anomaly. By the time Matt and Zehavi get there- well, really, right after the terror bird heads back through- the anomaly closes. And it’s not like the bismuth from the sea cave anomaly- this one’s weaker, paler, and Abby tells Connor and Matt such.

And then the terror bird waltzes through again. Shoshannah pushes Matt’s gun down. The second she takes her hand off, he raises it again, which means it becomes something of a little game, shoving down the muzzle of the rifle before Matt can push it back up again.

“We’re literally friends with this one, Matt, even if he wanted to eat you, we still wouldn’t let you shoot him.”

_ “And humans are more trouble than they’re worth.” _

“And humans are more trouble than they’re worth, thank you for pointing that one out, that’s a very good point to make. See, Matt? He agrees with me that he doesn’t want to eat you, now put the gun-”

The terror bird’s already gone back through, but Matt fires at the next thing to make its way through the anomaly- a man in a familiar red shirt.

Shoshannah’s free hand immediately goes up to her mouth. These anomalies, here at the prison, have been so truly bizarre that she hadn’t even noticed the set-of-nine snapping back into their rightful places, hadn’t even noticed-

Shoshannah’s crying before she realizes she’s crying, a little ball in the corner, staring at her dad with wide eyes.

“I can’t believe you shot him,” Connor says, “He’s been away for over a year and he finally makes it back, and you just-”

“Sorry,” Matt says, in the voice of a man who is Not Sorry, “He’ll be okay, it was on its lowest setting. Is  _ she _ okay?”

“Having a minor nervous breakdown,” Shoshannah replies, “No big deal, just trying to sort everything out.”

“Wow, Becker, you’re much cuter than I remember,” Danny says. Shoshannah’s head snaps up, and she laughs without realizing.

“Hey, peanut,” Danny says, reaching out for her, “You’re taller than me, now.”

“I was taller than you when you got trapped, remember?” Shoshannah mutters into his shoulder when she pulls him into a tight hug.

“Right. You figured out a better nickname, while I was gone?”

“Hasn’t caught on, but my cousin calls me Birdie, now,” she says.

“Never thought I’d see any of you again,” she says, “And thanks, by the way. Making friends early on with those terror birds saved my life.”

“Look,” Matt says, “Ethan could be here any minute. Abby, Shoshannah, take Danny back to the ARC, you can continue your little reunion there. Connor, keep trying to lock that thing. Becker, with me.”

Shoshannah helps Danny up, shifting as she does so, allowing her dad to use thick fur as a hand-hold, of sorts. Danny stands, though shakily, while Zehavi keeps a nervous hand on her gun.

_ “You going to tell him?” _ she asks, eyeing the anomaly warily. Shoshannah sighs.

_ “It’s up to mother, really. I mean, probably? Or, I could just ask her to bring Aaron here and see how he reacts, you know?” _

_ “That’s also a possibility,” _ Zehavi replies,  _ “But are you sure he’s ready to find out he’s missed a year and a half and one of the things he doesn’t know about is the fact that he has a son?” _

“You two are talking about me,” Danny says, indicating them with the club-like stick he’s holding, “I know that, because while I can see Shoshannah talking in Ladino about something for up to half an hour before remembering that nobody else in the room speaks it,  _ you _ only learned how to speak it  _ recently _ . It doesn’t come naturally to you, and therefore, you’re talking about something that you don’t want anybody else in the room to hear.”

“Yes, it does involve you,” Zehavi barks, turning on a dime, “Connor and Abby know  _ exactly _ what I’m talking about.”

“Rebecca moved on, didn’t she?” Danny asks, “I’ve been gone for a while, I wouldn’t blame her-”

Zehavi looks at Shoshannah, incredulous, before turning back to him.

“No, no she didn’t. In fact, she’ll be as  _ ecstatic _ as the rest of us to see you. But there are some… very significant… changes.”

“I have a cousin through Mum’s sister that we didn’t know existed and I nearly killed him the first time we met,” Shoshannah says, “He works with three tyrannosaurs, it’s pretty neat. That’s not all of it, obviously, but it’s one of the more… notable… changes.”

Matt runs back into the room, panting.

Ethan’s here.

* * *

“Listen,” Danny says, “It was just me, and a flock of terror birds for six months. It was either learn to speak terror bird and start naming things, or… you don’t want to know.”

“You speak terror bird?” Shoshannah asks. Danny doesn’t know why the kid’s looking so shifty, but she is.

“A little.”

The moondancer stares at him incredulously.

“Mica- the male that’s been popping in and out of here for a while- is looking for Ethan, he’ll sound the alarm when he finds the man you’re looking for.”

They nearly end up eaten by said Mica, who’s looking rather concerned, before Danny graciously, though slightly rudely, points out the anomaly. Mica huffs uncomfortably, clucking, before rushing right into the anomaly. The four of them hear a shot from upstairs, and rush upwards. Danny, somehow, makes it up there first, clutching his club in one hand, other outstretched.

It’s Patrick. Jenny had said, Rebecca had said,  _ Cutter _ had said that there was the possibility he was alive, but Danny hadn’t- Danny had spent to many years believing his brother was dead that he can’t quite understand a world where he’s anything different. And of course, Danny knows himself, he’s known he’d cry if this happened ever since Patrick went missing. And he does, surging forward, big, ugly tears.

And then Patrick’s in handcuffs in the ARC, and nobody will let Danny talk to him.

And Shoshannah’s still acting shifty, but this  _ can’t _ be the reason. Most of the Nine pile into Lester’s office while Danny makes his case.

“How do we know Patrick’s done all this stuff? I mean, he could just be using this guy Ethan’s name. What do we  _ actually  _ know that he’s done?”

“Tried to kill Zehavi with a poisoned serrated knife to the ribcage,” Stephen points out.

“Tried to kill Emily,” Sarah continues.

“Set up a bomb that I walked into and Jess had to defuse, could have killed at least the other dozen people in the building at the time, if not more from a collapse,” Becker lists, ticking off a third finger. All of them look to Lester, who sits forwards in his chair.

“Like they’ve said, since Patrick’s been here, he’s murdered one person and attempted to kill three others.”

Danny sits, head in his hands.

Shoshannah leans through the doorway.

“Zehavi and Matt are in there with him right now,” she says, “I don’t know what Zehavi’s pissed about, but she’s  _ not _ happy.”

* * *

“I was trapped in there, with those…  _ things, _ ” Patrick- Ethan-  _ Patrick _ says, “And every day, I waited for him to come and rescue me.”

Zehavi’s about to bubble over and say something monumentally stupid, shout in this idiot’s face until she can’t breathe. Because if Danny had ever had a  _ clue _ that the man in front of her right now was alive, the slightest of bread-crumbs, he would have been through an anomaly in a heartbeat, searching for his little brother until the end of time itself. She knows that, everyone else here knows that- Danny is nothing if not determined and caring, with a deep love for his family.

In this very moment, Zehavi can see, in her mind’s eye, what’s going to happen, how this hunt of hers is going to go.

Matt moves to storm off. Zehavi doesn’t.

“Cool motive,” she says, voice shaky, “Still murder.”

She overhears Philip and Danny talking about Helen Cutter, and something clicks.

Philip’s been asking Connor to do research on anomalies for him on the side. Danny says his name is all over Helen’s notebooks, which Zehavi believes. She may not know Danny as well as the field team proper ever did, but she does know that there may be one thing that makes him tick- his love of family- but that he’s not the kind that gets destabilized in just six months like that.

And the fact that Philip is trying to play it off as such suggests there’s actually something to hide, there. Zehavi sits against the wall on the other side of the interrogation room, in the hallway, and waits for Danny to storm out, or something to happen, and something does, of course, because while Zehavi isn’t always right about these sorts of things, she’s right enough of the time that it matters, because when the guard bursts in to defuse the situation, there’s about ten seconds before Zehavi feels her entire body seize up, and passes out.

By the time she wakes up, she’s being hauled to her feet by Danny, who runs as soon as she’s awake. Zehavi wraps her sweater tighter around herself, and follows them, her sense of dread coming in quicker and tighter circles, making her shoulders bunch in the same way that her hackles rise when she’s in her wolf skin. In fact, right now, she shifts in the car, and grows and grows and grows as she makes her way up the stairs. Mica is cooing over Emily, concerned, and heads through the anomaly the second they arrive.

Right then, in that moment, as the anomaly begins to swell and shrink in front of her, Zehavi understands what she has to do. She steps between Danny and the anomaly, and pushes her influence outwards, locking eyes with him as her mother had always taught her to do. Zehavi’s voice is a deep rumble, the sound of thunder on a clear day, a warning and a command and a threat all the same.

_ “Sleep,” _ she says, and Danny does. Then, she turns to Matt.

_ “Tell Jess I love her,” _ Zehavi says,  _ “I really do. And I’ll be back.” _

She looks towards the anomaly, and takes a step forwards, then another, then another.

_ “Someday.” _

Zehavi takes the last few steps, moves  _ through, _ ears pinned back to her head. She watches, as the anomaly shuts, and turns to the terror bird in front of her.

_ “Hello,” _ she says,  _ “I believe I have some work to do, and then, perhaps- then we can talk.” _

Picking up Patrick’s scent now is easy, without the business of the city blocking her sensitive nose. Mica follows behind her, eyes curious, as they go. Pliocene Texas is an interesting place, to say the least. Which is good, considering it’ll be her home for who knows how long.

_ “You will know,” _ she had said,  _ “When you return from your hunt, victorious, a killer between your jaws, and you understand a fragment of what I have seen.” _

_ ‘But what if I don’t want to go?’ _ she thinks,  _ ‘What then?’ _

That must be why she’s shut in here, now. She can see Patrick through the trees, and stands, as golden as her name, resplendent in the morning light. By the time she makes her way to the forest floor, pine needles soft and sharp all at once under the pads of her immense paws, his back is against a tree, and his eyes are closed.

“You going to kill me, now?” he asks, sliding an eye open. Zehavi shrugs her shoulders.

_ “I think your brother would have my head,” _ she replies,  _ “Besides, company is company.” _

Patrick’s eyes go strange at that, and his breathing shifts. It takes a few minutes for Zehavi realizes he’s fallen asleep.

He may be tied for the person that Zehavi’s ever met, but he’s still a  _ person _ . She’ll keep him safe for as long as it takes to get home, and for as long as it takes for Lester to find out how to deal with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm v happy to have this chapter out. i was debating publishing true north alongside this or alongside 5x02, but i'm just going here.


	20. Danny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> danny still hasn't adjusted to Being A Dad. maybe it's that fact plus the fact that his brother's a) alive and b) homicidal. either way, he's functioning pretty well for being in a constant state of shock.  
> -  
> Aka, an in-between-seasons chapter, because i really wanted to write this one and i kept giving TVOK all the cool creatures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmmm.... why am i working on so many primeval WIPs in tandem

Danny wakes groggily, to Matt shaking him, and stares at the anomaly where the anomaly that holds his brother once was.

“Zehavi went through,” Matt tells him, “She put you to sleep.”

“Figured that out for myself,” Danny replies, “Why?”

“I can think of about a dozen reasons why,” Matt hums, “More, maybe.”

“You going to tell me any one of them?” Danny asks.

“No.”

There’s eight other people’s emotions and thoughts ricocheting around Danny’s skull, and he sits back, eyes closed, the wall cold against the back of his head.

Matt sits with him, legs crossed. Danny’s eyes slide over to him, and he laughs, a deep, rolling chuckle.  _ This _ is his replacement, a man with his own plans, but Danny knows he can trust him.

“What do you think she’ll do when she catches up with him?”

“Keep him out of trouble, probably,” Matt replies, “Maybe bring him back here. I doubt she’ll let him out of her sight once she finds him.”

Danny continues to stare at the space where the anomaly once was.

“The woman that was here-”

“Emily.”

“Did she go through the other one?”

“Yes,” Matt replies, “She did.”

Danny sighs.

“You going to tell me why everyone’s been acting so shifty?”

“Not exactly my business to tell you about that,” Matt replies, “Professor Azose can tell you herself.”

“Oh, it’s that sort of thing,” Danny says.

“Just one question,” Matt says, and Danny nods, “What  _ happened _ to you in there? You seemed rather friendly with the terror birds.”

“Old friends,” Danny replies with a soft smile, “Back when Johnson took over the ARC for a day. We drove to this safe house in the middle of nowhere. Turns out, there was an anomaly, let terror birds through. I was about to get eaten, and Shoshannah comes out of nowhere, chattering excitedly with them, and we teamed up. One of the juveniles got blown up by a landmine.”

Matt stares, wide-eyed.

“You’re lying.”

“Absolutely not. Mica would be able to corroborate my statement, but he’s not here now. Anyways, same flock has another anomaly on their territory, leads to Pliocene Africa, site 333. Mica investigates, finds me, leads me back to their territory because I’m a friend and I have  _ some _ uses, put me in charge of watching the nests and guarding the chicks. Read some of the papers Helen had on her that I’d managed to take with me, hit loads of small carnivores over the head with Molly, nearly got eaten by saber-toothed cats, and, six months later, went through a weird third anomaly that Mica had been investigating after one of the juveniles accidentally chased a tourist through.”

“What happened to him, anyways?”

“Panicked and ran, ended up tripping and falling to his death, sorry do disappoint.”

Danny is very desperately trying not to process the fact that his brother is alive, homicidal, and currently stuck in the past with several of the close friends Danny’s made over the past six months. Hopefully, nothing happens to Fluffball. Danny practically hand-raised him, and he’d be very upset if anything happened to the small terror bird.

Matt’s having a quiet conversation with the other members of the field team. Danny grasps the hand that’s offered to him, and finds Sarah on the other end of it, equal parts concerned and curious.

There’s a feeling like the roll of thunder around the nine, now, the crackle of lightning on the horizon as Danny takes in the eight others, sits himself back into his rightful place in the network, and leans forward. Seven strong pairs of arms fight to catch him. It’s Cutter that grabs him eventually, and helps haul him to his unsteady feet properly.

Danny follows them, watches Abby and Connor support each other, watches as they make space for Matt to join them, looking to Danny before they do. Danny makes space, too, and nods when Matt looks at him with so much curiosity flickering through his eyes.

“So,” he says, “What’s this I hear about the Yanks getting a T-Rex?”

* * *

The alarm is set, is sounded, and rolls around every team they know about. Photographs of the missing two are sent out. Danny is taken off the field team for a short time, and meets the pup that’s currently gnawing, with little baby teeth, on his hand.

Ronnie is a sweet baby, but it’s still pretty hard to come to terms with the fact that the baby is  _ his _ son. That this little telepath who is just as curious as his older sister, who didn’t exist prior to Danny stepping through that anomaly to the future- at least not in a way that he’d known about-

Danny’s entire head buzzes with the realization, and so, he decides to toss his energy into being the best dad of a new baby that he can be. However, detective’s instincts still reign supreme, which is how he ends up watching Connor, a one-year-old who’s having far too much fun with this strapped to his chest.

“Hey, Dad, what’s up?” a voice chirps beside him. It’s Shoshannah, lazy grin on her face.

“Hey, Birdie,” he replies, before cocking his head to the side, “You know, that doesn’t fit right.”

“Figured it wouldn’t,” Shoshannah replies, sinking into the chair opposite Danny, blocking his view of Connor, “I see you’ve been trying to teach Ronnie detective work.”

The toddler giggles. Shoshannah grins, and orders some over-sugary drink that she’ll burn through in twenty minutes, and then, once she gets a pointed look from Danny, a large, mostly-eggs breakfast.

“Don’t be like your sister,” Danny tells his son, “Eat your vegetables and a  _ reasonable _ amount of sugar.”

“Hey! I eat my vegetables!” Shoshannah replies, grouchy, “I’m usually the one making  _ you _ eat  _ your _ vegetables.”

It takes about ten, maybe fifteen minutes for an omelette that would feed Danny for days but Shoshannah for about three hours to land on the teenager’s (he thinks she’s still a teenager, at least) plate. By that time, Connor has moved away, and Danny glares at Shoshannah, who’s already wolfed down a third of her food and drained her mug.

By the time she’s done, Danny’s still straining to see where Connor went next. He’s so focused, in fact, that he doesn’t notice Matt sliding into the third of the four seats at the little round table.

“Oh,” Danny says once he finally takes note of the fourth person at the table, “We’re not having breakfast and doing traditional reconnaissance at all.”

“Obviously not,” Shoshannah replies. A pigeon- the most unremarkable pigeon in the world, in Danny’s opinion, a little drab gray thing with the same shining throat that every pigeon has- lands on the table, accepting food off of what’s left of Shoshannah’s plate with a dignified coo.

“Alright, Algernon. Report.”

“ _ Algernon? _ ” Matt asks, coughing. The pigeon wiggles, and sits up, giving what Danny can only assume is a very thorough report, earning more food in the process.

“Can’t believe I didn’t think of this,” Danny mutters under his breath. Ronnie claps his hands excitedly, which earns an intrigued coo from Algernon.

“No, go back to what you were saying.”

_ Coo. _

“Oh, you’re done? Thank you so much, Algernon.”

_ Coo! _

The detectors in Shoshannah and Matt’s bags begin to beep. Danny grins, and ruffles Ronnie’s hair, getting up to leave.

“We’ll call you if it’s anything interesting,” Matt hums.

* * *

Shoshannah’s an osprey on Matt’s gloved hand again by the time that they make their way there, feathers smooth as an osprey’s can be, the sort of look in her eye that tells Stephen to try to avoid talking about it. He remembers that look, remembers that it heralds claws and teeth and rage bubbling over like soup in a shallow pan.

“What do we have?” Matt asks, letting the osprey hop off of his glove. Stephen’s pretty sure he tolerates being the main perch of their resident shape-shifter because it makes him look  _ awesome. _ Stephen’s definitely taken advantage of that, too. He has… so many photos.

A medium-sized bird with a long tail and a bright orange beak alights next to the osprey, and chatters with the other bird for a moment. Shoshannah fluffs up her feathers against the rain, and murmurs softly, stretching her raptor’s neck down to stare at the tern a little more closely.

_ “She says there’s something big in the water,” _ Shoshannah hums once the tern flies off,  _ “Says it’s not happy, either. The orcas are up in arms, kicking up quite a fuss, and one of the local selkies has already flagged down a Sea Shepherd vessel used to dealing with magical occurrences.” _

Stephen’s eyebrows rise.

“Selkies?”

_ “A few. They tend to attach themselves to marine environmentalist groups like Sea Shepherd, gives them someone to hide behind if commercial fisheries start getting pissy about the seal populations again. Or, at least, that’s what the traditionalists do. A lot just live in coastal cities and try to get in the water when they can. You’ll find a lot of mixed-species communities in places like Seattle or Oslo- selkies adore having orcas around, it’s free protection, and they can team up, too.” _

“Do you know any, personally?”

_ “Oh, there’s this very sweet eared seal couple- a Galapagos and a California sea lion, if I remember correctly- that are good friends with Mum, but we haven’t seen them in ages, they moved out of the country, but I can’t remember where, and I’m not naming names because they were nervous about that sort of thing- and my biological father’s not that shitty sister is a Ringed Seal, she gets that from their father, my grandfather, who was apparently also not a garbage fire of a dad and she has no  _ idea _ where he- my bio dad- got it from- I’m getting off track- _ ”

“Wait, so you’re, what-”

_ “No, Moondancer genes win out if anything does. I don’t know anyone from here, either.” _

By this point, the idle chatter has gotten them onto a small boat and significantly away from land, and while Stephen would normally be telling Shoshannah to stop rambling, until they get to the anomaly, they don’t exactly have anything  _ else _ to talk about, and learning about the magical side of the non-human world from someone who’s grown up in it, grown up with werewolves being her mother’s close friends and not things that go bump in the night, who’s used to a dragon being a rugby coach with a collection of expensive artwork that cries every time one of xyr people leaves, and not the villain in a storybook, a wretched wyrm with a greedy glint in its eyes- well, that’s at least more interesting than listening to Abby and Connor theorize or watching Sarah miserably trying to keep herself warm in her too-thin jacket.

“We’re not going to know what’s in the water here until we get there and check the time, or we see the creature for ourselves,” Matt says. Shoshannah fluffs up her feathers again, hissing against the wind and the wet. A sea lion flops into their boat, and removes a sealskin, turning into a rather large young man covered in said sealskin and a skintight wetsuit underneath that looks handmade.

“Oh, this isn’t-” he starts. Matt grabs his hand, and offers a jacket.

“We’re with the government, mind answering some questions about a disturbance in the area?”

The young selkie cocks his head to the side. Connor smiles broadly from the side, and reveals the date- the late Miocene epoch.

“You here about the weird light, or you here about the giant shark?”

Shoshannah krees in alarm, fluffing up to twice her size. Stephen finds his own eyes meeting in the center with the rest of them. He  _ knows _ , like the rest of them do, what this is.

The name rolls, like thunderheads on the horizon, through their network and beyond, stretching so far that Stephen knows that anyone any of their telepaths’ minds have ever touched whispers the name aloud.

_ Megalodon. _

* * *

Danny’s head jerks up at the realization, the great and terrible  _ knowing _ that rumbles through the air. Ronnie seems free of it, chirping  _ meg! _ over and over again in the way that suggests that while he certainly doesn’t know what is meant by the term, he knows that it’s important.

Rebecca pops back in, and the raptors and the hawks bark and screech, upset. Ronnie says something in garbled baby-talk that calms them down in a moment.

“You felt it too?” she asks. Danny nods.

“I’ll-”

“Get Lester to send them a larger vessel. Danny, you’re  _ not _ going out in some tiny dinghy like you’re clearly thinking of doing. That’s  _ not _ going to be helpful.”

“Oh, come on,” Danny says, a good-natured smile tugging at the corners of his lips, “I’m always helpful.”

“Then  _ be helpful _ . I’m going to ask Parker to watch Ronnie, xe won’t let anything happen to him. And then, we’re going to work  _ together _ to rescue you and our daughter’s co-workers from a shark the size of a humpback. Wait for me, don’t do anything stupid until I get back,” Rebecca says, a fond smile on her own face, before flickering away, and, about a minute later, flickering back.

“Lester’s sending Becker out of the ARC building and over to meet with us,” she says, putting her phone away, “And I’m going to grab one of the shark experts I’ve worked with. She… already works with the government, to an extent, I’ve already cleared her involvement with Lester.”

“So why are you telling me?”

“Because she’s my ex, and it might be awkward?” Rebecca replies, pulling on a windbreaker, “But then again, we’ve worked together just fine for years after we split, and Gretchen isn’t the sort to get upset about this kind of thing. Maybe a few raised eyebrows, but that’s for what we’ve gotten ourselves involved in.”

Professor Gretchen Winters is, in fact, rather calm, all things considered. She’s one of the few completely human friends of Rebecca’s he’s met, with not even a single iota of magic in her. She’s kind, though, which is the more important thing, and instead of startling when one of them mentions something obviously not normal, she laughs, and smiles, and rubs her hands together, eyes eager.

They hadn’t had to do much convincing, after all. Rebecca had said the word  _ Megalodon _ and Winters’s eyes had lit up like little lanterns, windows into the inferno raging in her mind.

Winters likely won’t join any of the main rotations, but it’s still good to have a marine biologist on call, in case anything like this ever happens again.

Rebecca shifts a half dozen times before they’re out properly, gannets and gulls and terns and albatrosses, sea-birds of distance and keen sight. As they grow closer, her shifts become more and more dramatic, until there’s a Steller’s Sea-Eagle, a bird Danny only recognizes because of the hushed, almost reverent tones that the others in his home speak of it in, perched upon the railing.

_ “I’m more familiar with white-taileds, to be completely honest,” _ Rebecca hums,  _ “But something must be said for a dramatic entrance.” _

The eagle’s form has a wingspan of two and a half meters. If Rebecca really is going for a dramatic entrance, this is a good place to start from.

* * *

“Shoshannah, if you’re going to be an osprey, and only an osprey, for this entire time, would you  _ please _ scan the water for any sign of the shark?” Matt asks for the third time. Shoshannah fluffs in closer on herself, and lets out the closest thing to a whine an osprey’s throat can manage.

_ “It is. So cold,” _ she huffs. Matt leans forwards.

“If you don’t do your job, I am  _ going _ to pick you up by those claws of yours and make you. Stop whining, and get to work.”

Shoshannah chirps, and krees, but eventually fluffs up her feathers and hauls herself into the air, circling. Sarah gets flashes of images from time to time- dark spots- fish, the backs of the upset orcas mentioned earlier- all of those sort of things.

The young selkie bull that had clambered about their little boat is named Axel, and narrows his eyes at their precarious position.

“You all know how big that shark is, right?” he asks. Stephen turns, and looks right at Connor, whose grin is growing by the second.

“Don’t say it. Don’t you  _ dare _ say it, Connor, I am  _ warning _ you-”

This is in vain, because it slips out of Connor seemingly with zero filter between his lungs and his mouth, because Sarah knows this definitely hasn’t crossed his brain first.

“We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

Stephen sighs, and lets the back of his head hit the side of the boat.

“I told you not to say it,” Stephen says, “Now, I might just have to go  _ into detail _ about every single date I’ve had with Nick over the past several months.”

“You’d better not,” Sarah cuts in, “No need to punish the rest of us by recounting every complaint about Helen the two of you share over dinner. Complaining about shared exes  _ can _ be a bonding experience, but-”

Axel stamps his foot on the bottom of the boat.  _ Hard. _

“Are none of you taking this seriously?” he shouts. Connor shrugs his shoulders.

“Aside from the middle-of-the-ocean part, kind of an average Tuesday for us, mate.”

“Liopleurodon,” Stephen counters.

“Mer creatures, future shark,” Abby notes.

_ “Mosasaur, which I’m still disappointed I never got to see, by the way,” _ Shoshannah says, alighting on top of the back of one of the chairs.

“Yeah, but that’s not an  _ average _ Tuesday. That’s, like, a once-every-three-months Tuesday.”

“Labyrinthodont,” Sarah points out.

“Doesn’t count, that one was on land. And how many land-based anomalies have we dealt with?” Connor asks. Matt clears his throat, and indicates the panicking selkie again.

“No, don’t-  _ look _ ,” Axel says, pointing outwards. Shoshannah lifts off again, high into the air, while Sarah lurches to one side of the boat.

Her breath catches.

There’s a light, pulsing, beneath the waves, and the water is  _ warm _ , here, or at least warmer than it has any right to be.

They’ve found the anomaly, that much is for certain.

Now all that’s left is to find the shark.

* * *

They can see the much smaller ship in the distance. Becker spots the white flash of an osprey’s wings, and hears the  _ kree _ that’s responded to with chirping from the sea-eagle on the railing. The professor greets her daughter with wide, outstretched wings and a regal bearing.

_ “Becker,” _ Shoshannah greets once she’s landed. Becker scratches the osprey affectionately on the feathered crown of her head. A golden eye locks with his own, pupils the size of pinholes.

“Have you seen it?” he asks. The osprey shakes her head.

_ “Not yet. I know it’s here, I know it in my bones, like it’s filling the hollow spaces in between with water and freezing them until they crack,” _ she says, voice full of majesty like it so rarely is. She stiffens, and cries out, taking to the air again. Becker’s breath catches in his throat as the anomaly spasms, and a massive grey triangle cuts through the water like a knife.

The shark doesn’t reach it in time.

Several things happen at once.

First, Rebecca shifts. She’s more useful as another pair of hands on deck at the moment, and Shoshannah can act as their eyes in the sky- they don’t need two.

Second, Danny grabs the harpoons. Becker doesn’t know why they have harpoons on a government vessel, but given the fact that they’re now fighting a giant shark, he’s not going to look that particular gift horse in the mouth.

Third, Shoshannah lands, hard. Becker is weirdly spun into a reminder of the photographs she’d shown him of her slapdash childhood, the one where she’d pushed herself so hard for her doctorate she’d nearly cracked, and the birds that had kept her alive during the process. It’s not the time or place for it, but then Shoshannah’s human shoulder slams into his, and she guides him to start pulling people up onto deck.

Stephen is first, obviously, then Connor and Abby. But by the time they begin to haul Sarah up the ladder, the shark has already begun to circle.

_ ‘Not again,’ _ Becker thinks,  _ ‘Please. To whatever heavenly power there is- I can’t- I can’t lose them.’ _

They haul Sarah into the ship. The shark lunges. Danny fires.

By the time that they get back into port, everyone has a very impressive set of shark teeth to add to their collection.

“I’m sorry, Abby,” Danny says under his breath. Becker can still hear him.

“Oh, I know we couldn’t have done anything different,” Abby says, “Sharks kill less people per year than cows do, but  _ that _ shark could have had an immense impact on the local ecosystem, and we don’t have the space to house anything of that size, at least not humanely. Great Whites, even small ones, don’t do well in even the largest of aquariums. A large Megalodon?”

There’s still a rawness in her voice, though. Becker’s really not surprised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end is nigh... THE END IS NIGH!  
> (of this fic. i'm planning to write to the end of the official series, one or two chapters more, and then branch off into writing more for this series, sure, but not more for this specific fic. possibly a direct sequel to this one. i dunno. i want to have a completed multichapter for once.)  
> (also, once I finish this fic, I can give more time to lullaby for a queen in making, which DOES have a second fic in the series in the works I PROMISE, but it's going to be a long oneshot instead of a multichapter because let's be realistic here, long WIPs just leave everyone frustrated. i can also give time to TVOK, which is getting a little neglected as I up the ante here, but is vitally important to the series as a whole and I need to give it more love)  
> -  
> Also, shoshannah's garbage fire of a bio dad hasn't always had selkie ancestry, but he has for the entire continuity of this fic. why, you probably don't ask? because it makes more sense for a moondancer who keeps her abilities on the DL to end up with someone who already knows magic exists and *should* be cool with it. this obviously didn't work out, but hey! ringed seals!


	21. the tunnels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 5x01, and Matt joins The Network.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm wired and i'm tired

Becker can  _ feel _ Lester’s anger, rolling through the network. He can feel the irritation, lower-burning but still there, too. He passes Danny and Matt and Shoshannah in the hall- well, he thinks the red squirrel on Danny’s shoulder is Shoshannah, but it could always theoretically be a random squirrel he picked up. He watches Philip stroll into their field of view, and decides to listen in.

“I was under the impression that you were still on the  _ very generous _ paternity leave we offered you, Quinn,” the man says. Danny’s grin isn’t the usual genuine sort- Becker can feel the passive-aggressive irritation that’s a few seconds from boiling over.

“Jess, Danny and I were going through facial recognition of old photos to see if Ethan- Patrick Quinn pops up anywhere else,” Matt cuts in, “He does, actually. One set of photos- in the background- from the late 1860’s. Along with someone very, very familiar, which suggests this is our future, though functionally the past.”

_ “The other person in the photos is Zehavi,” _ Shoshannah says,  _ “According to Jess, at least, she’s in the process of signing ‘all right’ in the photos. Which is genius. I wouldn’t have thought of that.” _

“Yes, that would be because most of your brain has hyper-fixated on birds for so long the rest of it has atrophied,” Becker replies with a grin. Shoshannah nods exaggeratedly.

_ “Oh, absolutely. I can’t do math anymore. At all. I used to be able to do math, and then, just- gone! Like that. Rekis- one of the vultures- used to teach me calculus. And I was good at calculus! And then I wasn’t. Poof. Gone.” _

“Well, I would suggest Danny makes his way home,” Philip says, “I think we have this covered, but there can never be too many people taking care of a toddler.”

He walks away.

“Has anyone else thought-” Matt asks.

“He’s gotten creepy?” Jess asks, turning around in her chair. Her eyes are rimmed a little in red- from crying- and Becker remembers the drunken calls he’s gotten in the middle of the night, how much she misses her girlfriend and how little she’s certain the other woman will ever come back.

But there’s pep in her step, now. Maybe it’s because they’ve gotten to the 1860’s- actually-

“Didn’t Emily go back to 1867?” Becker asks, “They could be picking her up there, and all three of them could be making their way back.”

Jess’s smile brightens. As does Sarah’s.

Becker slides into the chair next to Jess’s. Now that Zehavi’s gone, he’s the closest friend she’s got. Somehow. Despite the fact that Sarah is here almost full-time,  _ and _ they’re decently close friends. But he’s the one Jess calls when she wants to talk honestly about how much she misses her girlfriend who’s lost in time, so-

“We’re mostly off-duty at the moment,” he says, “At least until Lester finally gets here and gives us something to do. So, we’re finally going to have that conversation, about whether or not you’re just putting Zehavi up on a pedestal in her head, or-”

“She snored,” Jess says, tearing up again, “ _ So  _ much. She’d starfish out on the bed, but it was more than okay because she was always warm enough to make it impossible to complain about her being a blanket hog. And even when she had limiters on, she was- it made me happy, to see her smile. I just- I just want to know she’s okay. That she’s happy.”

“Why am I the relationship doctor in this office- Danny! Danny, you’re in a long-term, happy relationship, help me fix this!”

“You drug it up because you were worried about her, mate, it’s your funeral,” Danny says, “I’m going home. I’ve got a toddler to take care of and several seasons of procedural crime television to catch up on.”

“Cutter!”

“Don’t ask me. Ask Lester, he’s had the longest-term relationship here. I think. Actually, does anyone know whether or not Philip is married?”

“Cutter, I’ve never been in a relationship more than two months long before. I have no authority on this subject. I need help. Don’t abandon me.  _ Cutter!” _

“Best of luck!”

Jess is laughing, now, instead of crying, so Becker’s going to consider that one a win.

“A knighthood for Lester, hmm?” Becker asks. Jess grins, all teeth, and nods.

“I think he deserves it, don’t you? For putting up with all of this mess. He’d be the first one of us, publically at least, with one.”

Sometimes, Becker forgets Jess is a mutant. The teleporter rarely uses her abilities, and has only begun training with them recently, but she’s still  _ one of them. _

Abby’s mental alarm sounds.

Then, the actual alarm sounds, and Jess scrabbles to set everything up properly, and Abby slams the door back into the bullpen, injury on her hand already knitting back together.

“One of the raptors freaked out a few minutes ago, it’s not a big deal,” she says, “I heal fast.”

Becker gives himself a moment to wonder at every single member of the field team having either an active or passive mutation- Cutter’s enhanced agility rounds out the set- before it’s clear that Matt and Abby are having something resembling a fight.

Shoshannah re-enters the room, tying her hair up into a tail and rolling up her shirtsleeves as she grabs one of the EMDs. She’s been buddy-buddy with Matt, lately- she might know something.

“What’s going on with Matt?” he asks. Shoshannah winces.

“Don’t know.”

She’s lying. Painfully. Obviously. They say Shoshannah can’t lie well as a joke, but it’s really true.

Becker’s glad she doesn’t have any friends outside of the ARC team, or this would be a  _ disaster _ in making.

“Cutter?”

“Again, don’t ask me,” Cutter says, “Stephen, Sarah and I all don’t know what’s going on, here. And you all need to go find whatever’s taken the road worker.”

* * *

Matt is really starting to regret showing even part of his hand to the worst secret keeper on the team, but Shoshannah does order a few of her pigeon minions to find and harass Connor until he shows his face, so there is that much.

“Algernon’s not found anything of use, yet, but I have him tailing Philip, now,” she says, clearly not enthused about the concept of going underground, “This would be so much  _ easier _ if pigeons could  _ read, _ but I’m not going to open that particular Pandora’s Box, or even try.”

Matt agrees with that sentiment, at least. Shoshannah continues to look ill at even the thought of going down into the tunnels, but Matt encourages her to buck up and work on it.

Shoshannah shakes her head again, eyes wide.

“I can’t do tight spaces, not in the dark,” she says, “Not when I don’t know what’s there.”

Matt sighs, irritably, and heads down. They don’t even get far enough in to lose natural light before they’re back out again.

“We need guns. Lethal weapons. And Sarah’s fire. Shoshannah, what’s the best distance you have?”

“Not much, not when I run the risk of electrocuting someone in such a tight space.”

“Alright, just Sarah, then. And guns.”

“Finally, some common sense,” Becker says, running off. Matt can feel the confusion and irritation rolling off of Abby in waves. Connor scampers under the tape, waving frantically. Matt’s own irritation combines with the Network’s, satellite on the side of it he may be, and when he snaps, he snaps at Connor with Cutter and Stephen and Sarah behind him.

* * *

“We’re going to need conventional firepower, and that means guns,” Becker says over the phone. Shoshannah’s in her osprey form, again, this time because she’s unsettled, rather than any more reasonable reason. She leans her head forwards when Becker moves to scratch her feathers between the eyes.

“Well, as many as you can spare,” he says, leaning forwards. Shoshannah chirps her agreement, moving to take off.

“What, a tank?”

Shoshannah’s head jerks up.

_ “We’re getting a tank?” _

“What, really, a  _ tank _ ?”

Disappointment is obvious on him. Shoshannah chirps sympathetically.

“I wanted that tank,” he says.

Shoshannah shifts again, this time a burrowing owl that she’d seen once upon a time during her doctoral thesis.

“Good idea, though I doubt you’ll need to be that small.”

_ “The tunnels are wide enough for me to fly in, in this shape. That way, as long as it’s an existing tunnel, I can fly out quick enough.” _

“You really don’t like underground things, do you?”

_ “Why do you think I refuse to take the tube?” _

“Same reason as Stephen? Overstimulation? Too many people?”

_ “Fair point, but I also don’t like being underground.” _

She clutches Becker’s shoulder in her talons the entire ride there, and watches with wide, nervous eyes as they lure the creature to where they are. And then Connor makes a wrong move, and is dragged underground, and the only reason Shoshannah’s not vomiting in the corner out of worry is the fact that she knows he’s alive.

Also, Connor’s luck mutation, which means whatever happens, he’s likely to get out of it.

Shoshannah can feel Lester’s relief at that, spreading across the Network, and Cutter’s and Stephen’s and Sarah’s, too. But a luck mutation doesn’t mean anything if they don’t try to trigger it, to get it to work in their favor and make sure that Connor gets out of there alive.

She’s in Abby’s lap, still a burrowing owl, on the drive to the new location, the new building Jess thinks might be acting as the nest. Abby’s squeezing just a little too tight, but Shoshannah isn't going to blame her, not right now, of all times, when Abby needs the stabilizer more than anything. She might sink her talons into Abby’s leg as retribution, though.

_ ‘He’s going to be fine,’ _ she says,  _ ‘You know it, I know it, every single person on our team knows it. Connor always makes it out of these sorts of scrapes alive. He’s Lucky, that’s how it works.’ _

_ ‘I hope you’re right,’ _ Abby replies,  _ ‘I don’t know what- I don’t know what I would do, without him. Not anymore, at least.’ _

Shoshannah doesn’t know how exactly that feels, to love a romantic partner so much that she’d be lost without them, but she does know she’d feel the same for any member of the Network. They’re her people- that’s how she works, how she’s wired.

Even Matt. By this point, Shoshannah thinks she’d be rather upset if anything happened to her initially standoffish boss. She says so, and gets a warm, but strained chuckle in reply.

Shoshannah tries her best to wash comfort over the rest of the Network. She’s still not nearly as good at it as many of her second cousins are, but she’s better than she was when she’d originally joined the team, to say the least.

By the time they arrive, Connor’s already starting to wake up.

She knows Becker and Matt can tell that he’s injured, like she can. Pain flares across the Network every time he takes a step forwards, and Shoshannah bites the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out with him, with how hyper-connected she is to the rest of the Network right now. Everyone is terrified, everyone is on the Network as much as they can be, even Lester, who’s slammed back into it like he’s slammed open a door, but Shoshannah is the most connected of them all, eyes shining the lupine gold that hides behind them most days. She grits sharp teeth and a rumbling growl rattles in her chest while Connor explains his plan.

Jess can’t take people with her on jumps, not yet. Danny can’t, either, and neither can her mother unless she’s well-rested, which is not the case here, and Shoshannah- not well rested either. Which means that despite four people on their team or adjacent to it being capable of teleportation… nobody can help Connor, not now.

* * *

Abby’s hope rests on the fact that Connor is Lucky, and on nothing else. She watches, as close to powerless as she feels she’ll ever be, as the rest of the team moves into position, relying on Connor and Connor alone to set the gas. Their Moondancer paces, off to the side, ears pinned back and tail between her legs. Matt’s guilt is practically a scent on the air.

She can feel, in the back of her head, Stephen and Lester and Cutter and last of all, Sarah, comforting Connor when they can, helping him through this, helping him get to the gas pipes. Abby’s breath hitches as she stands back from the glass, and she clings to fur when she can, or Becker’s jacket, but mostly Shoshannah’s thick fur.

_ ‘He’s Lucky,’ _ she tells herself, as she looks at the building.

_ ‘He’s Lucky,’ _ rolls through the Network, hope all resting on that one little fact, like it will carry them through. She’s seen Connor make jumps that aren’t physically possible, seen the noses of dinosaurs pass right over his head, seen formulas that are just guesswork work on the first try and seen him get out of a hundred thousand scrapes- or, at least, what feels like it- without so much as a scratch.

Abby knows she can’t think too hard about it, because if she does, it might just trip Connor up, or trip any one of the seven other people that roll through their heads up. Danny is the last, the last to hear of it, anyways, and he can’t hide his choking grief as well as the rest of them can.

_ ‘May your odds be good, Connor,’ _ he sings into the Network, and then shuts down, like he can’t bear to know what happens next.

They offer what strength they can, really, the mental equivalent to an arm under an injured person’s shoulders. All of them do. Abby can feel the roll of thunder in the back of all of their heads, what they won’t let Connor hear, the desperate ‘ _ please, not him, anyone but him, we  _ need _ him,  _ please-’

She knows, more than the rest of them, that Connor’s strength is already starting to leave him, as the gas builds.

It’s right then, that Abby remembers that even the Lucky can have their luck run out.

Matt’s eyes flicker to her, to Becker, to Shoshannah, and his mind skims over theirs and the rest of the Network’s, silently assessing.

* * *

He can’t let anything happen to Connor. Not when he knows it’ll be the first loss that the Network has truly faced, the first where the snipped bindings won’t weave back together again at the opening of an anomaly or the acceptance of change, not when he knows, just by listening to them, that their hearts beat nine in tandem and they would shatter in tandem, too.

“You’re just going to have to trust me” he tells them, before reaching out further,  _ ‘You  _ all _ need to trust me.’ _

_ ‘We do,’ _ they say in tandem, swirling around him, and something- something  _ clicks _ , at the worst possible time, while Matt is making his way to Connor, like a side piece in a puzzle falling into place, like a single clever stitch revealing the final pattern long before it’s done. He feels the despair of them all as they realize, too, and does his best to help them through it.

This is exactly the sort of thing Gideon had told him to avoid if at all possible, and now- and now, he’s one-of-ten, maybe even one-of-ten-that-could-be-thirteen, and he knows  _ exactly _ who, if any, would fill those final places, knows the faces of three women, two lost in time, that would fit perfectly among them all.

Matt has a job to do, though. He can marvel at the fact that their new Missing-Two are hiding in the same place later. He can marvel at the fact that in that moment, their trust in him is absolute, that there are two other leaders whispering suggestions and cheering him on, that the field team, both old and new, is  _ more _ than he’d ever expected when he’d signed on to lead the team-

There’s no jockeying for position, no clever barbs, no veiled threats, not between this team.

He finds Connor, protects him as best he can, and clasps the oxygen mask over the man’s mouth and nose, and tries his best to get him out of there. But neither of them can teleport- not enough to carry themselves, much less another person- and that means they have to find shelter. Fast.

* * *

Becker can feel the sheer, unadulterated fear rolling through the Network when the blasts go off, can  _ hear  _ Cutter’s shout to give them more time, but it’s his call, last of them all, and he’s clicked the button already.

But they can still feel them, can still feel their Nine-Now-Ten is still a Ten, not an Eight, can still feel they’re alive, can feel the heartbeats of others in their own heads. Becker and Abby and Shoshannah  _ run _ to them, together. Becker’s first, somehow, and rips the top off of the dumpster that he can  _ feel _ they’re hiding in.

Abby kisses Connor. Becker, in a moment of sheer stupidity and stress running high, kisses Matt. He realizes, after a moment, and laughs it off awkwardly. Shoshannah, in the corner, snorts.

She has no room to talk. She’s been dancing around Dr. Cantor for as long as the veterinarian has been on their payroll.

“Next time,” Becker says, “Run quicker.”

“It’s nice to see you too, mate,” Matt replies. Abby’s head cocks to the side as she remembers the rest of them exist. Becker can feel the Network splitting- everyone-but-Connor and really everyone-

Abby voices some kind of suspicion- it’s there and gone in less than a moment, but Danny and Shoshannah toss themselves into Matt’s corner… and the father-daughter dynamic duo do  _ not _ trust easily. Well, Danny doesn’t trust easily. They still haven’t worked out that particular facet of civilian life from Shoshannah, yet.

_ ‘We need to talk,’ _ Matt says,  _ ‘And I need you all to trust me.’ _

* * *

Danny’s not here, not physically, but they can all feel his presence at this meeting, in the way he’s instructed Shoshannah to make sure the cameras are turned in the wrong directions, and they’re producing  _ just _ enough magic-based interference to jam the communicators.

Nick’s eyes flicker to Matt as Abby states her case, in a low whisper.

“Oh,” Shoshannah says, “That actually makes sense.”

“You didn’t  _ know?” _ Nick hisses in reply, “You were one of the ones advocating to trust him, and you didn’t even know one of the most vital pieces of information?”

“Hunch, not a hypothesis,” Shoshannah says, “The difference is vital, but my instincts- and Becker’s instincts- told us  _ trust him _ , and now he’s one of  _ ours, _ so-”

Matt turns off the cameras completely. There are seven of them, in the room, and it’s a bit crowded, but there’s a  _ knowing _ in the way each and every one of them holds their breath and waits for him to speak.

“In the future,” he says, “This planet is dying. This is my-  _ our _ \- only chance to save it. And if we fail, all life on earth will come to an end.”

“What’s that got to do with the ARC?” Abby asks.

“Yes, we know the planet’s in peril, global warming’s been recognized for years. I second Abby’s point- why the ARC?” Sarah hums. Stephen nods, too, and then they’re all nodding, six against one.

“Something goes wrong with the anomalies in this era,” Matt says, and it sounds like a death knell, like the same thing Helen had said but a thousand times worse. Nick can’t hear the rest of what the younger man says over the push and pull of  _ your fault your fault your fault _ in his ex-wife’s voice.

“You think it’s Connor?” Abby asks. Four other pairs of eyes turn to Nick, knowing it’s his voice on the matter that’s what matters here, right now. Matt may be the current field team leader, and Lester may be their boss, and Danny might be ‘team Dad’ or whatever he likes to call himself, but Nick was  _ first _ , and he’s the only one among them that knows firsthand how to change the future, for better or worse.

“Albert Einstein never meant for his equations to unlock the theory required for the atomic bomb,” Nick says, voice barely above a whisper, but gaining strength, “Connor Temple is one of the most brilliant minds I’ve ever had the good luck to meet, but that and good intentions is no guarantee of good tidings.”

Abby inhales. Matt nods, and his hand begins to move to his wrist, as if to take something from it. Nick raises his own hand.

“But,” he continues, “If Connor really is the cause of all of this, he’s also your best chance of fixing it. Think of it as getting the same person to create and disarm a nuclear warhead.”

Matt nods again.

They don’t need to be shown his little videos.

He shows them anyways.

_ ‘Oh, how young you must have been,’ _ Nick thinks,  _ ‘Too young, to grow up in a world where nothing was green.’ _

If they survive this, Nick’s going to make sure Matt’s home is filled to the brim with houseplants. As they file out, Becker lingers, awkwardly, before moving along. Nick knows, like everyone in the ARC by now knows, exactly what happened  _ there _ , but he’s pretty sure Becker’s decided it would be a terrible idea to have the ‘so do you want to go out’ talk at the present moment, considering the planet-wide imminent threat.

Nick has to agree with him on that much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: all of the works in progress i'm actually working on right now are Primeval WIPs. this, TVOK, and Revival are the primary ones


	22. darling it's better (down where it's wetter)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pliosaurs. also, i try to argue about how some mutations work in this series. surprisingly, it *was* planned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh, neat!

“So,” Matt says, trying to wriggle out from under Shoshannah’s heavy paws, “You all do this often?”

“Not really,” Stephen replies, “Not even when we add new people. We didn’t do it when Danny joined. I think it’s the near-death-experience part of it.”

“I, for one, am a little offended,” Danny replies. Sarah snorts at him from where she’s clinging to the Moondancer’s ruff.

_ “Stop your moving. We’re about to start the film,” _ Shoshannah growls, but acquiesces and lets him up when he asks again.

“So, then, why are we-” Matt starts.

“We’re avoiding suspicion,” Danny says, “Even if Abby and Connor and Lester aren’t here, we can pass it off as Pack Bonding properly with a new member, and nobody will question it- partially because the Boston office has already covered our tracks for us-”

_ “Thank you, Gabriel, for somehow managing to be even more clingy than I am,” _ Shoshannah interjects,  _ “You’ve done more to throw off suspicion than Dad ever will.” _

“Young lady, show your father some respect,” Cutter says, too tired to push any energy into it.

_ “Sorry, Dad.” _

Matt doesn’t even know what they’re watching, because as soon as the film starts, they mute it, and convert the space into a low-light war room.

“Alright,” Danny says, voice barely above a whisper, “So this is what we know. Matt, you’ve been investigating the longest, you take the lead.”

“I’ve looked into Prospero’s property portfolio,” he says, “Last year, Philip bought a decommissioned power station. Tell me what that’s about.”

“He did mention something about hoping anomalies would help us solve- something,” Becker points out. Shoshannah snaps her now-human fingers, and nods in agreement.

“He definitely did. I can’t recall what I said first, but-”

“You said ‘not gonna be green much longer,’” Becker replies, “It could have something to do with that.”

“Philip’s reaction, from what your memories show, implies he thought we were sympathetic to whatever he was planning to do, and I genuinely doubt he intends to doom the entire world. So, attempt to use anomalies to fix something already wrong with the world and it fails miserably and makes everything infinitely worse? That sounds about right,” Cutter interjects.

“Would also explain how he could convince Connor to his side,” Stephen hums, “Connor is absolutely the sort to jump into something dangerous and potentially conspiratorial if someone’s Greater Good spiel is of high enough quality.”

Cutter squirms awkwardly at that. Matt notes that the rest of the team- even Shoshannah, who of those here besides Cutter and Hart, has been here the longest- are confused, too. The image of a dodo flashes across his head for some reason.

“That’s not how I remember it,” Stephen says casually, “It wasn’t- it wasn’t supremely different, but it didn’t quite happen like that.”

“It did in my timeline,” Cutter replies flatly, “You keep forgetting that I wasn’t here to start with.”

This is the first time Matt’s really, properly remembered that, according to the Core Nine- specifically, what the rest of them like to call in the back of their heads the Core Four- Cutter is originally from a timeline where the ARC didn’t exist at all and Jenny Lewis was a very different woman named Claudia Brown, and apparently nothing else changed.

“So, if we act correctly,” Matt says, keeping his voice measured and low, before Cutter interjects-

“As long as you’re not on the wrong side of the anomaly when we fix it- that is, the Future- you’ll still be alive when we change it, yes. No matter how big the shift is. Mine switched in the Permian Hills anomaly. Only Helen and I remembered Claudia Brown-”

“Which is how we figured out who ‘Eve’ was,” Stephen interrupts, “And, also, how Helen figured she’d be able to destroy humanity without destroying herself. We’re not sure if it shifts the timeline entirely, in a singular fashion, or if it just- if it just-”

He clicks his fingers, looking for a word, and mutters one in Arabic.

“Switches you?” Shoshannah asks. Stephen grins, and nods. Matt inhales, a single shaking breath.

“We considered that, yeah,” he says, “But fundamentally, the shift would have been made by us coming back in the first place-”

“We being?” Sarah asks.

“Myself and my father, Gideon, who passed away right after Jenny’s wedding.”

“We’re sorry for your loss,” Cutter hums.

“It’s alright. He was… very focused, on our goal. Never got particularly close to him.”

Matt feels the wind knocked right out of him as Danny pulls him into a hug.

“This is nice,” he says, to nobody in particular.

“Danny gives excellent hugs,” Sarah replies, while looking over Matt’s notes again, “He’s not always carrying too many weapons, like Becker is-”

“Hey!”

“He’s not weirdly formal, like Cutter, and he doesn’t have super-strength like Shoshannah does. He’s just warm and friendly and always happy to hug someone. It’s  _ great _ .”

“Are we sure I’m the only clingy one on this team? Because I’m pretty sure having a ranked list of which tall people on this team give the best hugs is-”

“You’re just bitter you’re not first,” Sarah replies.

“No, you’re right, I just think it’s weird you said it. Now. Dad, could you release Matt, please? We kind of need him for planning.”

* * *

Abby’s snooping in on what Connor might be doing, in the morning, when the detector goes off. She feels terribly guilty about manipulating him like he is, but she needs to know what’s going on here, and she needs to get him out into the field.

“It’s the middle of the North Sea,” Matt wonders aloud.

“Alright,” Cutter says, “Anyone with experience dealing in primarily aquatic anomalies, raise your hands. That’s Stephen, Connor, Abby, Shoshannah- barely, you got here just before the Future Shark and what we’ve been calling the Mers, and the Liopleurodon. Actually, that would be everyone, wouldn’t it? All of us were there for the Megalodon anomaly.”

“Should we call Professor Winters in again?” Becker asks.

“No, less people the boat, the better.”

Abby’s drive features Matt, Connor, and Shoshannah, the last of whom seems just as uncomfortable at the idea of going underwater in a submarine instead of her own skin as she did at the idea of going underground, but she’s been pacified by the idea that if anything happens, she’s got full permission to break out the pilot whale forms she’s been working with lately and make a break for the surface.

She asks to see the creature while their Moondancer is still busy pacing a hole into the floor. Shoshannah chirps in response, and follows them, bumping her head more than once in the process.

The creature is light in color, with stripes of red down the sides, and covered in mostly basal protofeathers along its back, with a few more complex ones in places.

“We thought it was a big bird, to be honest,” the man says, “But no bird has teeth like that.”

The narrow-snouted- she thinks it’s a megalosaur, and it’s got an odd structure- she’s got an odd structure- near the end of her snout. Cutter’s mind in the back of hers says  _ Eustreptospondylus. _

“Some kind of theropod,” Abby says, “A juvenile.”

“Thero-what?” the man asks.

“Pod. We think some of them could have swum between islands, like ostriches sometimes can.”

“But it’s a dinosaur, right? A real live- well, dead- dinosaur.”

She’s not dead.

“It’s fine,” Shoshannah interrupts, “This is what my mutation is for. And besides, if I wear Cinnamon’s skin instead of my own, I’m bulkier than she is. I’ll be fine. You two, stay out of here until she’s woken up and I’ve calmed her down.”

“I’m not going to leave you,” Abby says, “We’re both going to sit in this room until she wakes up and calms down.”

That doesn’t take very long. The Eustreptosondylus comes to rather quickly, shaking her relatively light head and whining while Shoshannah smooths down the feathers on the top of her back. She leans her heavy weight on top of their warmth greedily.

The crew are ridiculously entertained by the fact that the real live dinosaur is, in fact, nothing of a threat whatsoever. She’s now in their offered space, while Shoshannah sits with her on the floor, two little peas in a pod, and Matt plays with something that gleams in the low light.

“That’s Emily’s dagger,” Abby says, leaning over the side of her bunk. She, like all the rest of them, knows they’re missing two, now, two that have never been connected to the Network before but will when they return, like adult teeth growing in to replace missing gaps that there never were before.

She knows, deep down, that they’re going to be back, soon. They’re in the same time, now, and, well-

Emily’s got a ticking clock on her side.

* * *

Shoshannah slams her hands out, and Abby stops in midair. The Eustreptospondylus, who she’s decided to call Mia, because the dinosaur has agreed wholeheartedly with the short, concise name, yelps when Connor lands on her tail.

“It’s not heading for us,” Abby says, once they make it to the controls.

“We’re heading for it.”

“Welcome one, welcome all, to Jurassic Park- the real one, this time,” Shoshannah growls under her breath, “Plus side, of course, we might be able to return Mia. Minus-  _ Pliosaurs. _ ”

“Why don’t you like pliosaurs?” Matt asks.

“Because they’re  _ pliosaurs. _ They’re plesiosaurs, but instead of doing the interesting thing, they became the coward’s variety, by shrinking their necks and growing their teeth.”

“Why, exactly, are you okay with this?” Sam asks. Shoshannah soothes, as best she can, and tries to flicker her mind  _ out _ .

“If this was Eocene, I might be able to do something, but it’s not,” she says softly, “Or if we were in an area primarily occupied by crocodilians, but if it’s pliosaurs, the biggest shapes I’ve got- well, that would be the Megalodon. And Megalodon didn’t have  _ hands _ .”

“Okay, the first thing we need to do is restore power. Now, I need the ship’s wiring plan, okay, Captain?”

There’s a bit of a scuffle over who’s in the mini-submersible. Connor offers, then Shoshannah.

“No, I need you both here. Connor, the reason’s obvious, Shoshannah- are you really considering leaving us all in here with a large carnivore that nobody else can defend against or negotiate with without using our weaponry?”

Shoshannah flickers her head back to Lester. She might as well do something worthwhile, while they’re here. She slips back too far, though, and passes out. She knows this, because she’s only seeing what’s going on through Lester’s eyes. His voice, and everyone else’s, is tinny when they speak.

_ “They’re still alive,” _ Lester says,  _ “One of the two telepaths of ours is on board and has established a line of communication. And she asks, to say… well, that’s rude.” _

Shoshannah’s of the opinion that rude is more than acceptable in this particular scenario.

_ “You must be joking,” _ Cutter says, and his indignation is a relief to all of them,  _ “Firing a nuclear warhead- or any warhead- into an anomaly will only result in nuclear waste on the Jurassic side of the anomaly at  _ best _ , or both sides at worst. If you want to know what really will start World War Three-” _

_ “Professor Cutter,” _ Lester barks. It’s still like they’re all speaking underwater, but it’s getting stronger. Then, like magic, it weakens, as she’s pulled back to her own body, Connor’s hand on her shoulder and Mia’s muzzle in her face.

“They’re considering bombing the anomaly,” Shoshannah says. Sam hisses in fear. Shoshannah groans, and lets the Eustreptospondylus nose at her again.

“How do you know that?”

“Telepath. Matt or Becker could have done it too, but I’ve been connected to the Network all of us are in the longest. I guess that answers the question over whether or not we can properly communicate over significant distance, though. Yes, but it’s not worth it. I had to scrabble to latch on to someone’s mind instead of my own, and it was still like everything was underwater. Probably could have done better if I’d gone right to Becker, but-”

She groans, and nearly falls onto her face.

“I don’t think I’m going to be much use,” she says, “I can keep Mia from eating you-”

_ “Yes, you can. Do you have any meat?” _

“I’m sure there’s something in the freezer. Whenever anyone has time, could we see about getting her some food?”

“You can talk to her?” Sam asks. Shoshannah nods, eyes wide in the way that say ‘yes, dumbass, I can talk to the dinosaur. Why else do you think they’d let me on board?’.

Officer Shaw goes looking for Officer Neal while Shoshannah keeps Mia in check, entertaining the juvenile megalosaur with the fact that she can float within this little pocket of air, too.

All they can do, really, is hope for the best and plan for the worst. The worst, of course, being that they all end up dealing with a nuclear warhead exploding on their side of the anomaly, it somehow works, and all of them are stuck in the Jurassic with a ticking clock back home.

Shoshannah would normally retreat to connect to Becker’s mind if she knows she’s about to panic, but that’s not an option, and neither is Matt’s, or Abby’s, or Connor’s. Which means she’s left with trying desperately not to think about the fact that she’s dozens of metres underwater, in a high-powered tin can, with a nuclear warhead possibly staring her in the face.

She digs her hands into Mia’s feathers, and whishes dearly in the back of her head that it’s Aya she’s holding. She’s neglected the raptor just a tad recently, and resolves to give the Deinonychus all the attention she deserves when they make it home.

If they  _ ever _ make it home.

There’s something big, outside. It shouldn’t be a pliosaur. Even mosasaurs, with how big they got, never were larger than twenty metres- at least, to their knowledge-, and they were mostly tail. These pliosaurs, they’re that size if not  _ bigger, _ at least double the size of any fossil evidence they have.   
They  _ can’t _ be  _ Liopleurodon. _ The largest examples of  _ Liopleurodon ferox _ in the fossil record- she’d  _ listened _ to the rant after the Guns Island incident, damnit- are roughly six and a half metres in length.

These things, on the other hand, these pliosaurs-  _ Kronosaurus,  _ perhaps? Or the Monster of Aramberri, the one she’d researched so extensively after Guns Island?

Mia chirps into her side affectionately, nosing at her hands.

_ “Are you alright?” _ The Eustreptospondylus asks. Shoshannah sighs.

“Do you think you could swim your way to shore, if we let you out of here?” she asks. The Eustreptospondylus cocks her head to the side.

_ “We’re not very far from shore,” _ she says,  _ “I could, I think, make the journey.” _

“And I can’t jump there, not with you, at least,” Shoshannah hums, “So you’ll either have to make the jump yourself, or…”

There’s an idea, flickering in the back of her head. But if she wants to make the most of it, she’s going to need Matt’s help, and a lot of it.

“We’re going to have to drop you off anyways, dear,” she says, voice barely above a whisper, “But if I can pull this off, all you’ll need to do is make for shore as fast as you can.”

Mia’s wide eyes meet her own. The dinosaur seems to understand, seems to see the steel that now firms her spine and caps her teeth.

_ “Very well,” _ she replies, and stands,  _ “Wish me the best of luck.” _

“Did you even have to ask?”

* * *

Matt returns to the boat to find the other panicked telepath on this side of the anomaly pacing a hole in the metal floor in wolf form. The crew stare, wide-eyed and clearly uncomfortable with the immense carnivore sharing their space, even ‘fun-sized’ as she is now. He whistles, once, just for fun  _ and _ as a way to snag her attention, and Shoshannah’s head jerks up on cue, she sits down, and begins to  _ wiggle. _ Which makes sense, she’s a hilariously undersocialized and needy teenager in either shape.

“I heard you have a plan?” he asks. The wolf cocks her head, and thumps her tail against the ground.

_ “I do,” _ she says,  _ “It’s going to take the both of us, most of the heat in and around this boat, and some very clever rules-lawyering to get this to work.” _

“Not necessarily,” Matt replies, “I think I heard them, speaking normally, on the other side. That’s how you interact with archosaurs, yes?”

Shoshannah’s eyes widen, and her whole body shifts back.

“Oh, that makes so much sense as to why you wouldn’t know about it, too! There’s actually evidence to suggest that practically everyone on the planet has a Communications mutation, it’s just that so many species have gone extinct that it’s possible not to-”

Matt puts a hand up.

“You were saying? On the ‘how to get out of here’ front, of course. Let’s try to get back on track before we dive back into the theory once we’re on land in the Anthropocene epoch.”

“Oh, you remembered that’s a proposed name for it!”

“Abby, Connor, you and the crew work on getting us back, we’ll work on distracting the pliosaurs. And your plan, again, was-”

“Telepathy,” Shoshannah says, eyes gone bright and teeth gone sharp.

“Right. Alright. How do we do this-”

_ ‘Then?’ _

It’s a quick, locking connection, and Matt can feel the difference immediately. He knows two telepaths working in synch can reverb off of each other and heighten their abilities, but he’s never  _ felt _ it before, not even with the weakest of other telepaths.

The dinosaur leaves the boat, and they reach out in unison for the pliosaurs beyond them, pushing, bending, breaking to their will, whispering to creatures from long ago to ignore all that they see and feel and hear and smell and taste in these waters- just for a moment- and wait.

They make it through the anomaly. Matt’s so full of adrenalin and relief, shaking on the floor, that he almost doesn’t realize how tightly he’s been bound to the network, now, how sharply it all comes slamming back to him as the buzzing has been removed and the closeness has been restored.

These are  _ his _ people now. And they’ll help him.

Matt  _ knows _ it.

But they’re still missing two.

Sarah slams a newspaper down in front of him.

“We can’t let them do it,” she says, “We can’t.”

She’s right. They’re missing two, and none of them will be Right if they leave Emily like that.

Matt sets his jaw, and nods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cut scene from the end:  
> "So, is this what it's like to be you?"  
> "Yeah," Shoshannah replies, "It's completely normal."  
> "I mean, how is this possible?"  
> "Numbers game, Matt. Communications mutations aren't *that* rare, they're just usually very specific."  
> "How are you calmer than me right now?"  
> "Oh, I haven't slept in three days."  
> -  
> Also, some characters are making a re-appearance next chapter!


	23. a killer between her jaws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HEEEEYYY TRUE NORTH FINALLY GETS INTEGRATED BACK INTO THE REST OF THE FIC (or aka: the gang rescues one (1) victorian lady)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, party people, did you miss me?

Zehavi thinks she might actually kill him. Something like six months in the past with this absolute bastard of a man, who’s given her a scar so deep it’s in both of her true-skins and has killed more people than she'd like to remember… and it's the  _ singing _ that does it.

“And if you'll remember, we’re birds of a feather, you and I~” he croons into her shoulder.

“I should never have let you into the vicinity of alcohol without supervision,” Zehavi says, “You're not even  _ drunk, _ Patrick, why are you acting like this?”

“If I'm not  _ allowed _ to kill people, I'm going to be a pest to them, and why not practice on someone who won't kill me first?”

Six months with a Moondancer has  _ changed _ this man. Zehavi’s not sure it's for the better. Patrick acts like at least three of her cousins, and she doesn't like it, but he was also a  _ literal murderer  _ before.

She supposes he still  _ is _ one, apologetic when either of them bring it up or no, but he's also the only sentient contact she’d had for months, too, and she’ll take what she can get. Even if that means being friends with someone who would have gladly killed her last year. Or the beginning of this year.

“Oh no,” she says. Patrick snaps out of his fake-drunk haze and turns to her immediately, which would be more endearing if she wasn't currently wearing high heels, and therefore tall enough to put her chin on the top of his head.

“What? Are you alright?”

“Timeline shenanigans,” Zehavi replies, “What if-”

“Don't think about it,” Patrick instructs, shaking a finger in her face, and Zehavi snorts, “Do not think about paradoxes, do not think about timeline disruptions. You'll just hurt yourself if you do, I speak from experience.”

“I'm sure you do. Hey, there's someone else taking photos- do you think we’ve photobombed enough for them to see we're fine?”

“Yes, but when else are we going to get the opportunity to get our photo taken in Victorian England?” Patrick replies with a grin.

“How are you  _ older _ than me?” Zehavi wonders aloud, before following him, “You’re five- six, actually- years older than me, and your maturity level is half that.”

“Could be any number of things.”

“I’m offloading you back to Danny when we get back. I already have three younger siblings, I don’t need another.”

They stop, for a moment- both of them do.

“Thought you were going to toss me in a cell the second you got back,” Patrick replies.

“No, we’ve got bigger fish to fry than you,” Zehavi whispers, indicating towards one of the massive posters.

Spring-heeled Jack, hmm. Doesn’t sound like Patrick’s modus operandi, but it could have always been him.

“Don’t like that,” Patrick replies. His hands go to his knife holster automatically. Zehavi side-checks him in warning. The worst possible idea right now is to show a knife in the midst of a crowd of already volatile people. That’s before a flash of red catches her eye.

“Hang on,” she says under her breath, leaning her head towards Patrick’s, “Is that  _ Emily?” _

“I think it is,” Patrick responds, “We need to follow her, don’t we?”

“I’ll shift. Cover me.”

By the time they leave the alley, Emily’s almost out of sight. Fortunately, Shoshannah’s pigeon collection is the extensive sort, and she doesn’t mind if other people mix and match with different members as long as they ask said pigeons for permission, first.

She can just hear the tail-end of the conversation, can see Henry Merchant’s foolish face, can see the lack of anything resembling respect in his eyes.

Zehavi knows men like this- she’s known them all her life.

She needs to save her friend, and she needs to do it soon.

But this means her time in the past must be coming to an end, soon, and that means she’s got real decisions to make.

* * *

“How are we supposed to get this information out of Connor?” Sarah asks. Matt shrugs his shoulders.

“If he’s clammed up to  _ us _ , I don’t know what we can do. Cutter, you’re sure you tried everything?”

“I even pulled out the big guns. I asked if he was willing to bounce theories with me.”

Matt’s not sure why a ripple of scandalised expressions goes through the team at that little reveal of information.

“Are you  _ kidding  _ me?” Shoshannah hisses from where she’s sitting on top of the ledge in the room, the one that’s normally used for potted plants but currently houses one single very tall Moondancer, “That- he’s  _ never _ withstood that before.”

“I’m sure you’re blowing that out of proportion-” Matt says, before he’s so  _ rudely _ interrupted.

“She’s not-”

“I’m not.”

“We’re going to have to find out another way,” Matt speaks up. Abby’s the one who gets it first.

“You’re asking me to break into his lab.”

“If I get caught-” Matt manages before he’s interrupted again by several overlapping arguments.

“I wish Zehavi was here,” Shoshannah says, once she swivels around Sarah, who’s busy arguing with Stephen, “She’s good at this sort of thing, and it would be easily written off as her being paranoid. She’s done this sort of thing before, after all.”

“Listen-”

The anomaly alarm is what cuts him off this time, along with an odd tug at the back of his head. It’s not like the Network, not quite, but perhaps just left of it. Perhaps an  _ almost. _

Either way, Matt runs.

* * *

“So, glad we used the time to buy fabric and actually make you a skirt,” Patrick groans.

“I  _ am _ glad. You actually did some decent hemming on here. I’ve taught you well. Also, it’s good for blending in. And I have nice pockets in this thing,” Zehavi whispers back to him, “And just be glad I was able to make the conversion.”

“Why the hell did you have 1860’s money on you anyways?”

“For this reason.”

“For getting fabric for historical clothing?”

“For being able to survive in a historical setting, Patrick,” she whisper-hisses in reply, “I work with time travel on the regular. I chased you through an anomaly into prehistory. If you think I wouldn’t have made sure there was a way for me to get money, you’re fooling yourself.”

Patrick blinks.

“I already took care of that, though. You don’t need to break into your emergency stash, I’ve been selling valuables from the past for over a week. You’d be surprised what some of these collectors are willing to pay for mammoth ivory.”

“Really?”

Zehavi wishes that she was worried about the here and now, and not how much she’ll disappoint her grandmother with her decision when she’s back.

* * *

“Damnit, Becker,” Shoshannah hisses. This particular raptor is anything but the gracious, intelligent, apologetic being that most raptors she meets are. Female raptor in breeding plumage, that much is for certain, with the vivid blue and white patterning, “A raptor this size, if they’re not listening to me, is  _ not  _ going to see you as-”

By the time she finishes that thought, there’s another one on her mind, as she stares at the newspaper clutched in Matt’s hand.

“Fuck.”

“I’m going through,” Matt says. The other three of them move to speak up, and Matt holds up a hand.

“Twelve people dead, no arguments. The more we have, the more attention we draw to ourselves, and I think Lester would kill me if I let any of you go by yourselves. Abby, I’m going to need you to do what we talked about.”

“You’re coming back,” Becker growls, “That’s not a request.”

Matt nods.

“I know.”

* * *

Zehavi can smell them, in the air, but knows she needs to follow Merchant. Patrick will follow Emily, he’s certainly good enough at avoiding being detected, even in this area.

“I want her locked away where she can’t harm me anymore,” Henry Merchant says. If Zehavi had teeth in this pigeon form of hers, they’d be grinding or snapping right now. Instead, she lifts off, and, once there’s none to see her change her skins, switches a pigeon’s for a wolf’s.

She runs to Emily- or what she thinks is Emily, but she can scent someone more familiar, someone she’d know well enough-

“Matt,” she gasps as she shifts back. The other telepath makes a strangled noise of surprise- partially because he’s clearly been knocked to the ground- but Zehavi knows there’s no time to spare in pleasantries, no matter how much she wants to just hold onto one of her own pack and scream until the frustration wears away.

“Emily’s been taken,” Matt says, “We’ve got to move, there’s a raptor here-”

“Give me a second, here. We can bust her out of the asylum if we have to. Just… Hug?” she asks. Matt blinks at her incredulously.

“Nevermind. Let’s move, you’re right. Patrick, do you have a  _ gun? _ ”

“Of course I have a gun, why wouldn’t I have a gun?”

“Ethan?”

“This is not a conversation we want to have right now, Matt, trust me on that much. Now, up. Come on.  _ Up,” _ she tells the man, grabbing on to his coat and letting him grab her shoulders as a lever.

_ “Zehavi?” _ Matt asks, eyes wide (and maybe just a little wet, though that could be from the head wound). Zehavi laughs, and nods, and knocks her forehead against his reassuringly. Just the littlest bump, of course. She doesn’t want to jostle that fresh head wound too much.

“Listen, you stay here and recover, you might have a concussion. Patrick and I will follow after that carriage-”

“Absolutely no way. I’ve got a gun and I can talk to pliosaurs, get out of my way.”

“Since when can you talk to  _ pliosaurs, _ Matt? Is this a new development or have you just kept your mouth shut, because if it’s the latter- actually, never mind, new question- when did you all encounter  _ pliosaurs? _ I thought the only time that happened was just after the pup had joined the team,” Zehavi rambles. Matt uses her shoulder as a crutch to start moving, while she  _ tries _ to heal his thick head.

“I’ve got knives. And a gun,” Patrick offers. Matt whips around and points his own gun at the man. Zehavi steps in between them.

“Whoa, we are  _ not _ doing that. Now are we going to go rescue our friend, or are we all going to sit here and threaten each other until I decide I’m tired of babysitting the both of you and move and at least one person ends up dead?”

“I vote we save Emily, for what it’s worth,” Patrick offers again, “That’s why I mentioned my arsenal.”

“Look, alright, we’ve got, ah, guns, two-”

“Three.”

“Patrick, where did you find the time to hide a  _ second _ \- never fucking mind, I’m just going to go after her myself. I am going to do this the old fashioned way, too, with that nice flint knife I made in the Pleistocene while I was recovering from that stick to the shoulder.”

“Ooh, good choice.”

“Patrick, shut your pie hole. Let’s move.”

* * *

Matt doesn’t exactly know how to react to this. To any of this, really, but the fact that Ethan Dobrowski (or Patrick Quinn, as he seems to be perfectly happy being referred to as) is happily running alongside them as they frantically attempt to keep pace with Zehavi might just be what ends up breaking him. Matt’s not entirely sure. All he knows is this: They need to help Emily, and they need to do it fast. Or not. Maybe they can just sneak into the asylum afterwards and-

Oh, who is he kidding. They need backup, and they need backup  _ fast. _ He can feel the Network responding to that request, can feel the bonds strengthen and the blood rise to the occasion, knows that there will be others soon enough.

_ ‘The raptor went this way too,’ _ Zehavi tells him, already in feathers instead of skin, golden head flashing in the light as something of a kerfuffle begins below. For some reason, this seems to amuse Patrick, who stops for a moment, before continuing on.

_ ‘Just move,’ _ Matt replies, and sinks his own feelers into hers, the first real solid connection Zehavi has to the Network. She falters in the air, for a moment, before continuing on, eagle's eyes at the ready.

There’s a different kind of panic, that spikes through her and into Matt, at least after that.

And it’s not just Zehavi’s.

* * *

“So, we’re here to keep Sarah from going through, or are we here to patch up whatever animal that Anderson brings back, Doc?”

“Why do you call me Doc? You’re a veterinarian, you’ve earned the title just as much as I have, if not more so,” Shoshannah hums. Esme’s cheeks redden just a hint.

“I read an article about you, in the papers, a few years back. Seemed only right to call you Doc if you’ve got a published paper and everything,” she replies, eyes flickering over to Becker. Shoshannah leans back and grins at the man, who is… glaring.

“She’s only a year older than me, Hils. You lot can’t keep me from socializing with people in my age group. At the very least, I  _ will _ have friends my age, and there’s nothing you all can do about it.”

“Ah, I think your gun-toting older brother was more upset about the fact that I was going to ask you out,” Esme interrupts with a smile.

“Oh, I know. I do want to take you up on that, but I think- okay, I can’t tell you about it, but I’m going to have to rain check that. For the foreseeable future. I do think you’re cute, though.”

Esme’s face falls. Shoshannah feels more than a little bad for her.

“I know this seems really weird, but I’m actually genuinely interested in going out with you, I just can’t go out on a date for… I don’t know until then. Promise you’ve got one booked as soon as I’ve got an opening, though,” she laughs. Esme’s face brightens up a little bit at that.

“Oh, an opening? Are there other applicants?”

“Nope! Just… a toddler brother and a pack to look after,” Shoshannah hums, voice gone soft. She knows that if she looked in the mirror right now, she’d see wolf-gold eyes instead of warm light brown, because there’s a million things she’d like to say to everyone right now, and none of it is-

“Hey, Sarah! Back away from the anomaly! I know you want to see your Victorian girlfriend but now is not the time!”

* * *

There’s a rather simple reason that Zehavi books it to the ground as fast as these wide, wide eagle’s wings will take her. That reason just so happens to be that this immense female- a species Zehavi doesn’t know, but if she was like Connor or Cutter, she might make some assumptions based on the fact that the anomaly this creature came through was likely the same one they did, and it was most certainly in the Middle Cretaceous of North Africa because it was also most certainly the same Carcharodontosaurus anomaly that Connor and Abby had gotten stuck in- has killed so, so many people, and she has a friend down there, and there’s no way that Zehavi is going to let Emily do this on her own.

It at least seems like having a wolf roughly equivalent in size to a Thoroughbred to keep a raptor in check is more than just useful. Emily’s vine whips are far more efficient with Zehavi there to cover her when she needs to take a break, and Matt can’t do much beyond use a gun but Patrick’s got whatever the hell his powers are (even Zehavi can’t quite put her finger on them at this point) and it really seems like they’re going to be nothing but good.

Zehavi saunters through the anomaly with the raptor between her teeth, careful to insure that the blue and white feathered oversized bird isn’t bumped too hard on the way there, despite the fact that she’s sleeping heavily. Patrick sticks close to her, and Zehavi lays the raptor down.

Matt’s through next. They wait, the anomaly flickering, and-

And Emily falls, right into Sarah’s arms as the pyrokinetic checks her over. The veterinarian moves faster than any of them, right to the anomaly.

“Esme!” Shoshannah yelps. Doctor Cantor, yes, the young vet.

And Henry Merchant.

“I really don’t think I’m the one you want to be holding hostage,” Doctor Cantor hums, cool as a cucumber.

“Really?” Merchant replies, digging the gun deeper into her neck. Doctor Cantor rolls her eyes.

“I’m serious. Just try it.”

“What the hell, Esme-”

They’re cut off by the discharge of a weapon… and the bullet bounces right off her skin. There’s a loud, terrible noise, too loud to Zehavi’s fine-tuned ears, loud enough to wake the raptor at her feet, which lunges for the pair.

The claws glance off of Doctor Cantor. Henry Merchant is not so lucky. The veterinarian grabs the raptor by the fluff of the neck once the deed is done.

“What, you think Lester would hire an ordinary human to watch the animals while you all are away? My skin is invulnerable, at least the outermost layer. I’ve gotten hit with everything from a needle to a bomb. Nothing hurts me, at least on the outside.”

“Oh,” Shoshannah says, before she and the rest of the group present finally, finally turn to Zehavi and Patrick and Emily.

Zehavi could deal without being tackled, but she does have to admit, it’s pretty nice.

So is the sheepskin lined jacket that Patrick gets her as a joke as they’re heading back to the ARC. It may have been intended as a hey-we-had-to-wear-furs-for-six-months-haha kind of joke, but Zehavi really does think it suits her. Of course, now she has to explain when the hell she and Patrick became friends in there, but that’s fine.

It’s fine.

It’s going to be  _ fine. _

Well, Sarah and Emily making out in the car certainly supports that notion.

“Oh. Oh, my,” a familiar voice says, tears in her eyes. Jess.

Zehavi sweeps up her girlfriend like a sailor coming home. She certainly feels like one, that much is for certain.

She won’t admit it in public, but every ‘I love you’ before and since that one in the middle of the bullpen doesn’t quite match that high.

Of course, the high comes crashing down with the realization that they all might die a horrible death before long, but Zehavi Sokol has never backed down from a challenge.

Except, perhaps, explaining to her grandmother exactly why her golden child is backing out of helping her with the whole werewolves in London business. That, she will gladly hide behind Rebecca to explain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "patrick shut your pie hole" is my favorite line of dialogue ever and I don't think i can ever top it.  
> also "sarah nearly jumps through the anomaly to go find emily" and "shosh now has a date" and "zavi is back with her gf" this chapter really is filled with wlw huh


	24. dang bugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i am about two chapters away (on my end) from being done with this fic. I'm really not sure how I feel about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's up party people, did ya miss me?

“So,” Emily hums, “This is- this is normal.”

Sarah resists the urge to laugh, and scoots to the side so that Emily can sit down on the couch.

“Did you notice how clingy your wolf is?” Emily asks, “She’s- she’s  _ really _ clingy.”

“Absolutely. We just ignore it, though,” Sarah replies, “For the most part, at least.”

A pigeon flies into their window.

“And yes, that is absolutely creepy how there’s just an army of her spies flying around.”

Emily raises an eyebrow.

“We all love each other, but we’ve got a responsibility to call each other out.”

“No, since when are Pigeon Minions a thing? I could get on board with this.”

“We’ll explain at the team meeting.”

* * *

“So, Patrick,” Danny says, as they sit down in the kitchen.

“I’m sorry,” Patrick interrupts, “I’m so, so sorry, I-”

This goes on for several minutes while Rebecca chugs her coffee in the kitchen. Shoshannah’s eyes flicker between the Quinns as she holds the youngest of them. She resists the urge to flicker across the connections in the back of her head until she gets to her cousin, the one person she knows and is friends with that won’t already be wrapped up in all this drama.

“Okay, place your bets. Instant forgiveness or is Dad going to be reasonable for once? I sent the birds out already, we need to be done soon.”

“This sort of thing takes time, Shoshannah,” Rebecca replies, eyes tired, even though the caffeine is clearly starting to take effect, “You can’t just expect something like forgiveness to happen in a day.”

“Listen up, people,” Shoshannah barks instead, leaning over the counter, “Cutter just gave me a heads-up, and we know he and Stephen take the most time to get out of the house, so we’ll be expecting a… large number of people… here in a few. Aya, stop growling at Patrick, that’s not helpful. Look sweet and help me rearrange these couches so that everyone can fit and we don’t have to squish people on top of one another.”

Becker shows up first, without warning, because he’s a jerk like that, but Zehavi shows up about thirty seconds afterwards with a pie she’d seen in the window of a local bakery, so that kind of makes up for it. Matt’s next, yawning all the while, and then it’s Stephen and Nick, and, because none of them are monsters, they make room for the pair.

Emily and Sarah duck in afterwards, followed by Jess, who gets more than her fair share of raised eyebrows, but everyone knows that if they kick up a fuss about Jess, Zehavi is going to leave, and Zehavi is the only one here who could even be called half-decent at shifting other people. Danny squishes himself further into the arm of the couch when Patrick decides to plop himself down between his brother and Zehavi.

“And we’re not expecting the other three, so that makes twelve,” Rebecca hums, drawing the shades, “Alright, then.”

“It’s definitely Philip. There’s no way it couldn’t be, right?” Shoshannah asks, and gets a plethora of nods.

“I’m more worried about the fact that Connor’s been dragged into it-”

“You don’t think if we  _ told him _ -”

“Stephen, let Matt talk,” Sarah reprimands, eyes narrowed, before she turns back to the center table.

“As I was saying,” Matt says, “We’re going to need to get Connor out of there. Now, I know all of you are incredibly intelligent people. So, how are we planning to get our man out of there before he causes the apocalypse on accident?”

“Aww, Matt’s getting protective-” Jess laughs.

“Matt’s always been protective, we just get to see it now. Also, if this works and the world doesn’t end, you owe us  _ so many _ team movie nights,” Shoshannah says, and it slips so  _ easily _ from her she’s genuinely surprised. It seems that even in a crisis, this is  _ her _ pack, these are  _ her _ people, and they’re not getting away from her that easy.

“Listen, Abby’s already managed to snag a few things from Connor’s lab. I’ll see if I can crack it- Jess, not you, yes you are better than me at this but that’s why we need you on anomaly detection. We can’t let the little fires burn while we try to put out the biggest one.”

The team meeting surprisingly  _ doesn’t _ descend into furious bickering after that. Shoshannah’s almost impressed with the lot of them. Almost.

* * *

There’s an anomaly detection alarm coming from Connor’s  _ lab _ . Abby knows they’re fucked before she’s even there, eyes wide and hands shaking before she even opens the door, but-

But Connor doesn’t even know  _ why _ he’s fucked up, doesn’t know what’s happened, doesn’t-

It’s, predictably enough, Cutter who breaks the silence. He’s always been Cutter, or The Professor, to most of them, even though they’re all quite literally telepathically bonded now, and he pulls that rank flawlessly.

“This lab belongs to Prospero,” Philip replies once he arrives, “It’s not your jurisdiction. Not any of yours. If I have to eject you all, I will.”

All?

Abby looks around. It’s not just her and Cutter- Sarah has already arrived, and Zehavi steps in to close ranks as well, moving silently past the desk and past Connor to put herself between him and the security personnel, a clear message if there ever is one.

Cutter and Matt look at one another for one moment, before nodding and indicating the rest of the group to file out. Zehavi’s bent the metal on the edge of the desk- another warning.

Abby can just about make out what she says to Connor, under her breath, and she knows that’s because Zav  _ wants _ her to hear.

“Hey,” the Moondancer whispers, “You get in over your head in anything, you call us first thing, yeah? We’re worried about you, Conn. Really worried. You’re sure you’re alright?”

That’s… pretty good, actually. At the very least, it’ll serve to switch Connor’s mental narrative from ‘nosy co-workers’ to ‘helicopter packmates’ (any one of them denying that’s what they are at this point is lying to themselves).

And it  _ works _ .

“So, ehm- when’s the next team meeting?”

Abby cuts in before the rest of them.

“We’re still deciding, but we figured since you’ve been having such a rough time of it lately, we’d bingewatch The Clone Wars whenever we can all get together next and eat through that novelty popcorn stockpile that Danny keeps pretending he doesn’t have.”

It’s… actually a pretty enjoyable sounding plan. Connor’s started to go teary-eyed in that way that means he’s feeling excessively guilty about something or another. They’re going to have to make sure he gets a good spot in the puppy pile or else  _ everyone’s _ going to start feeling guilty.

“I feel bad,” Stephen says, “But it’s for his own good. He knows that, right? That we all care about him?”

“He knows it, Stephen, which is why he looks so guilty right now. Listen, if he says anything about it to you or anyone else, you know what to do. Also, do you know where to find the place Danny gets his popcorn stash from? I promised.”

“We heard. Don’t ask me, I don’t buy that. Nick does, though, he’s been using it to get out of looking for real ‘welcome back’ presents for Danny.”

“Good to know. On both counts.”

“Abby, do you think you can talk to him?” Matt asks. Abby shakes her head sadly.

“I’ve got to give it one last try, don’t I?”

* * *

The whole pack is  _ miserable. _ That much Patrick can tell, and he’s only been here for a little while, and he’s not part of said pack in the first place.

They’re sick and tired of hiding things from each other, that much is obvious. Patrick knows the look Matt has on his face when he leans into one of the others’ shoulders’- he’s had it on his own plenty of times. Matt is tired, and Matt needs his people, even if he’s not quite used to needing them yet.

He’s locked in the Asoze-Quinn household, now, trying to convince a Deinonychus and two Achillobators not to eat him while his? Toddler? Nephew, the one Zav had mentioned, Ronnie, clings to the shiny dark male- Pearl, his name was- as the large raptor tries desperately to avoid tossing him on accident.

The toddler claps his hands excitedly and jumps- sort of- to Patrick. Rebecca eyes him carefully from where she’s grading papers at the desk.

“When’s Danny going to be back?” he finally asks, even though- wait, actually,  _ is _ she his sister-in-law yet or are they waiting for the wedding until after the apocalypse is averted-  _ Rebecca _ doesn’t seem to be interested in answering those questions.

“Anomaly’s under control, so he and Shoshannah are running intelligence while they’ve got the time. Since when are you so interested in your brother’s whereabouts? You never showed your face here while it was you and this time, and not him.”

“What would have happened if I had?”

“Before or after you tried to kill my cousin’s daughter  _ and _ my own?” Rebecca replies, a low growl hidden somewhere in her voice. Patrick drops his head.

“I know. I’m sorry. But- before?”

“We would’ve given you space, here, happily. If you’d have come forward from the start like Emily did, you’d have probably been here since then. I don’t let my people go without, no matter how tough it is to work with them. You’re not my people, but you could’ve been. The only reason you’re that close to my son is that if you do a  _ single _ thing that I don’t like, one of the raptors will tear your throat out.”

“I can live with that,” Patrick replies. It’s a valid worry. And it’s a valid deterrent, too.

* * *

Connor can’t hide the guilt on his face for very long. He knows it. Abby seems to know it too. They’re  _ his _ people, he shouldn’t  _ have _ to feel like he needs to lie to them, but he trips over his tongue, and something-

Something lights up in Abby’s sharp blue eyes there, like she’s seen right through him. She probably has, has probably seen every one of his doubts about this project like she always does with everything else.

“That’s not what Cutter wants and you know it,” she hisses, “That’s what  _ Helen _ wanted. What we lost a year to prevent, what Danny lost a year and change of his family to prevent. Connor, I know that  _ you _ know that that thing needs to be shut down. Part of the package deal.”

Connor backs off for a moment, staring. He resists the urge, like he’s done for this past while, to check the rest of the Network, to ask Cutter or Sarah or any of the other scientists on their side of things for advice. He’s struck, then, by just how much he  _ misses _ them. How much he misses Becker prodding the rest of the team awake at unreasonable hours, how much he misses Sarah’s sneaky way of getting them all in a caffeinated headspace by ingesting far too much of the stuff himself, how much he misses Cutter and Lester’s surprising jolts of fondness he could feel sometimes in the back of his head. How much he misses Danny’s fussing.

He doesn’t even know what the Network feels like anymore, not really. They all made the decision to add Matt and Jess and Zehavi, but he doesn’t know what little quirks they share between only them, the ones they only reveal to the rest of the Network.

He’s about to say  _ something, _ anything at all, when the lockdown procedures initiate. Abby spares a momentary glare for him.

Becker’s command is in their ears and in their heads. This is  _ his _ area, after all.

_ ‘Currently non-essential personnel, out. That means anyone except Matt, Connor, Abby, Jess, Zehavi and I, including other members of the Network.’ _

_ ‘We’re not leaving you,’ _ Shoshannah replies, with an added bonus of confusion,  _ ‘Wait, is this the  _ third _ lockdown I’ve not been here for?’ _

_ ‘FOR A REASON,’ _ and that’s Danny right there, even though Connor knows they’re probably standing right next to each other, not too far from the ARC because they seem to love their worrying.

_ ‘I’ll get them out,’ _ Stephen promises. Connor can feel Cutter’s nervousness mixed in with a  _ strong _ dose of non-drowsy calm from Shoshannah-

And a much stronger one from Zehavi. Right. Alright. They’re calm. They can do this.

Stephen leads Cutter and Emily and Sarah away quietly, while gathering other non-essential personnel and ushering them outside of the doors. Zehavi rounds the corner, and begins tapping her feet rapidly, looking to Matt.

“We’ve got three, Becker should have three too. Go,” Matt says, in the quiet voice that means it’s more of a suggestion than an order, but Zehavi’s clearly halfway to shutdown with all of this noise. Figures. Connor despised it too when he came back, and she’s not been back for long. The Moondancer hurries over to the Captain.

* * *

Jess can’t make any of the necessary jumps, not now, but Zehavi is here, and she’s grateful for that much.

“You go, I’ll stay with her. We can’t afford to lose our eyes in here,” the Moondancer says to Becker, who nods. Before he turns to leave, Zehavi grabs his hand and pulls him into a hug.

“You come back safe, you hear me? We haven’t lost any of us to date and we shouldn’t start now.”

“I know.”

“Where’s my hug?” Jess asks. Zehavi kisses her cheek and grips her gun tighter. Jess can see the reflection of Becker leaving on the monitors. She extends a free hand, for just a moment, and Zehavi squeezes it gladly, burying her nose in Jess’s hair for just a moment while she tries to do what she’s helped so many other today with- calm the hell down.

“We’re gonna make it,” she says, practically a prayer in her voice, “We’re  _ going _ to make it.”

“I trust you,” Jess replies, and Zehavi nods.

“I know you do, honey.”

* * *

Becker’s there before he realizes it, already looking to Matt, same as Connor and Abby are. And Matt delivers on that trust, with a plan and enough information to act upon it.

“Alright, then,” Becker says, because he knows that they’re the kind of people that act best when their backs are to the wall and the fear is running highest of all in their blood, “What are we going to do now? First?”

“Our only chance is to get them together,” Matt says, and Becker has an epiphany.

“Jess,” he asks, through his comms because at this point too much reliance on the Network is only going to hurt the rest of them that stand outside if anything happens to them, “What’s directly under us right now?”

_ “Directly under you is…” _ Jess says, and Becker hears Zehavi’s snarl of frustration.

_ “Us. Directly under you is us.” _

Becker listens the next time Matt tells him to do something, goes with Abby.

_ “Jess, any sign of those maps?” _ Matt asks.

_ “We’ve got them,”  _ Zehavi replies.

_ “Okay, where does the duct above you go?” _

_ “Right around the ops room.” _

_ “Then where?” _

_ “There’s a junction. It splits into two smaller pipes.” _

_ “That’s perfect, that’s too small for the queen.” _

And there they have it, a plan from nothing. Becker wonders if it’s Connor’s luck working its magic again or just the standard kind of lucky.

He moves to grab the necessary box with Abby, then goes for the EMDs on the table when they both hear something.

And… it’s Emily.

“Don’t shoot!” she says.

“What the  _ hell, _ ” Becker replies, sounding a bit whiny for his own taste, “I gave you a direct order. Is Stephen here, too?”

“I know you gave me a direct order, I just thought you were wrong. And no, none of the rest of us stayed. I decided to prioritize getting more staff out than myself. I believe this is what you’re looking for?”

She tosses a canister into his arms.

“I take it Zehavi’s still fussing over Jess like she’s probably been told to do?”

“Someone needed to stay back with her,” Becker replies.

“What are you waiting for? Come help me.”

Becker scoffs.

“We really need a clearer chain of command around here,” he says, but really, he doesn’t mind it all that much beyond the momentary spike of panic of what will happen if she doesn’t make it either. They’ve managed to avoid paired up members being split at the moment- Connor and Abby are both still here, and then Jess and Zehavi, and, though it’s not gone much of anywhere, Matt and Becker- but Sarah is still on the other side of those doors, and while she’d be crushed by the death of any one of them, Emily will likely hit particularly hard.

He moves to assist Emily and Abby with grabbing the pesticide anyways. There’s fondness in his eyes, he knows that much. He’d not  _ expected _ this to happen when he’d been recruited for the most bizarre job he’s had in ages, but he wouldn’t change it for the world, even though sometimes he wants to grab all of them and hide somewhere until the scientists start seeing some sense and aren’t so willing to jump blindly into danger.

He loves them, he realizes in that moment- he loves all of them, though in slightly different ways. They’re his people, and he’s theirs, and he’ll protect them with everything he has and he knows they’ll do the same, because they love him too.

_ ‘Aww, you sap, of course we do,’ _ Shoshannah chirps from the outside, but it’s laced with so much preparedness for coming grief that Becker can’t take comfort in the fact that his pack cares about him.

He’ll stay alive. He has to.

For them, he’ll manage it.

* * *

“Oh, I hate insects,” Jess says, looking up at the ceiling, “It’s worse than spiders, it’s worse than dinosaurs.”

Zehavi grabs her hand gently, tries to push as much calm as she can towards her girlfriend before the techie starts really freaking out on her. She can see Matt making his entrance in the corner of her eye, and steps aside to let him pass.

“Here’s your charge,” Matt says, handing whatever it is he’s holding to Connor, who probably knows what it is in the first place.

“I hate insects too,” Zehavi replies, “If we get out of here, we’re getting truly excessive amounts of ice cream and chocolate. I am going to drown my nervousness in sugar and dairy, lactose intolerance or no.”

_ That _ gets something resembling a giggle out of Jess.

“Listen, Matt,” Connor says, and Zehavi’s head snaps up, because she  _ knows _ that tone of Connor’s, knew it back even when she was hiding, “I know how you must feel about me right now, but that machine is the most important thing I’ve ever worked on and I- I never thought that anybody’d get hurt.”

“Oh, here it goes,” Zehavi mutters under her breath. Jess’s eyes slide to hers, and they both agree to stay quiet for the moment while they watch.

“You think  _ that _ was bad? It hasn’t even  _ started _ yet.”

Zehavi knows. Zehavi’s looked into Matt’s head, has seen some of what he’s seen, knows how terrible the coming days will be if they don’t do anything to stop it.

The phone rings, and they get to work. Zehavi breaks, for just a moment, when Jess starts screaming, but it’s only one, at least for now.

But-

Jess is  _ allergic. _

“I need an EpiPen,” she says, “There should be one in the medical bay.”

“I’ll take her,” Zehavi says. Becker shoots her a look.

“I’ll cover you.”

“Emily, you go too. Abby, you stay with us, Connor?”

“Yeah?”

“You answer that phone and tell Philip exactly what’s going on here.”

“Yell at ‘im for us, Conn,” Zehavi instructs, “Yell at him, and if we survive this, you get to pick the popcorn. I just need someone to  _ yell _ at that  _ idiot.” _

“Weren’t you supposed to do that the last time we were in this situation?” Jess creaks.

“Yeah, well, the threat then was minimal and he’d only caused potential damage to one individual not himself. Didn’t have the heart in me to yell as much as I should have,” Zehavi admits, before cocking her head to the side.

“This is stupid, I’m just going to carry you. We’ll go faster.”

She holsters her weapon, and lifts Jess up easily.

“Ooh, I forgot you’ve got  _ muscles.” _

* * *

“Come on, you’re doing really well,” Becker says to Jess, who grins at him from her place, secure in Zehavi’s arms. To be completely honest, Becker didn’t know the lieutenant was that strong (though it does make sense, given the feats of superhuman strength he’s seen from the rest of that family). It’s impressive. He should spar with her more often.

Zehavi sets Jess down on one of the cots, and Becker begins to search for the adrenaline.

But… there isn’t any.

“Shit,” Zehavi says, and Becker turns to look at her. The Moondancer furrows her brows together.

“Might be able to make a jump outside, at least with Jess. She’s still lucid- well, enough for a jump of a few hundred metres.”

“Do it,” Becker tells her, “Come back for us if you can, but get Jess  _ out of here. _ ”

Zehavi, once they’re down near the bay doors and close enough to the exit that if the doors were open it would only be a few steps, does as she’s told.

“Alright,” Becker says, alone in the basement with Emily, “That’s Jess out of here. Good. Good. At least two of us are going to make it.”

They make it to the panic room, at least. Abby runs in, and then out, and then Matt and Connor are there. Emily’s started to react oddly to  _ something _ , and Becker worries, like Becker always does.

He almost runs out himself when Connor does, but stays behind, holding the door when the two of them come back in with Rex. As one, all of them hit the proverbial deck, covering each other and holding on tight.

If Becker’s going to die, right now, he’s going to die holding on to at least a few of the people he cares about so much. He can see it in their eyes, too, how they feel the same right now, can see how Connor’s finally snapped at Philip (that took long enough) and how they’re so much of a team that it hurts to look at them at times.

He threads his fingers with Matt’s, as he stands.

“You know, you both need to stop having romantic moments right after one or the other or both of you almost die. It’s very inconsiderate to the rest of us,” Emily laughs, and grunts as she sits up, then winces even harsher when she concentrates for a moment.

“Oof. Do not open the connection right now, trust me on that much. We are getting chewed out so much for being self-sacrificial idiots, you all have no idea.”

Becker does the exact opposite, on three with the rest.

_ ‘CONNOR TEMPLE, MATT ANDERSON, WHAT THE  _ HELL _ WERE YOU THINKING-’ _

That one’s… Cutter and Lester at the same time. Impressive coordination there.

Sheer panic… That’s Shoshannah. That much panic could  _ only _ be Shoshannah. The drop in panic and surge in relief they get in response furthers that conclusion.

_ ‘We’re at the emergency room, she’s getting treatment. Don’t worry about us,’ _ from one and soft, sweet friendliness from another- Zehavi and Jess respectively.

_ ‘Is everyone alright?’ _ Now that kind of measured calm could be either Sarah or Stephen-

_ ‘Sarah was worried SICK about you Emily what the HELL-’ _

Okay, so the first one was definitely Sarah, meaning the second one, with Stephen’s specific trademark of panic, is exactly who it says on the tin, which leaves-

_ ‘Right. Let’s not do this again.’ _

That’s not the energy Danny usually brings to this sort of event. Fatherhood hasn’t changed him  _ that _ much, which means there’s going to be a few bone-crushing hugs when they get to the other side of this building.

* * *

There’s no popcorn party, not yet. They’re not recovered enough to relax like that, not for a long time. And Connor doesn’t like what he finds.

He never thought he’d  _ thank _ the beetles for saving his life, but the fact that they’d kept the incinerator from torching them all… 

There’s a hand at his shoulder- Danny, still frighteningly calm.

“I think we all need to have a conversation,” the ex-cop says. Connor bites back  _ who are you and what have you done with Danny Quinn _ and leaves to talk to Philip instead. He needs to clear his conscience, at the very least, be honest with himself and the New Dawn team before he runs back to his pack and sobs out an apology.

And Connor can see… exactly where he went wrong. The thing is, Philip actually  _ believes _ at least part of what he’s saying. Connor’s still sure he’s coming from a good place, somewhere deep down in there, and his excitement can be something resembling infectious.

“Oh, I should- ah, let you get on with your work,” Connor says, feeling the worry from his pack in the back of his head.

“Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow, then. It’ll be an exciting day!”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Connor shouts back, and he sounds  _ excited. _ He lets Philip take a few more steps before his face drops.

If he wasn’t Lucky, he’d probably be dead. If Zehavi hadn’t managed to get Jess out, Jess might’ve died, too. And that’s what Connor uses, to justify what he does next.

_ “I’ve seen the future, Philip, and I know our hopes rest on you. You will find a way- you must. The future is in your hands.” _

Connor has never been angrier to be proved right.

“It’s too late,” he tells them, and watches as so many look between each other- scientists of many flavors, travelers, soldiers-

“There’s no way we can stop him now.”

Cutter, leaning on a cane he doesn’t need to use that often, but is convinced gives him gravitas, offers a sharp half-smile.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Connor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so:  
> Once I finish this, I'll either finish TVOK (at least up to the end of Birdie, aka 'their version' of the end times- or, more likely, get started on A Flash and A Bang, the TTR direct sequel that's going to be a rapid-fire, heavily planned run through of the rest of the actual plot. I've learned a lot from that fic, one of those things being *PUT YOUR ALTERNATE STORYLINES IN A SIDEFIC HOLY SHIT* so AFAAB should go a lot smoother than TTR did and might actually end up shorter despite the fact that it covers three times the amount of time.  
> Revival... Revival takes a lot out of me. My primary choice of what to do when I am backed into a corner is 'switch POVs' but I've already *posted* three stephen-only POV chapters in Revival and have another one ready to go once I finish chapter five. So that might take a while.  
> Why does Zehavi have such an issue with taking Jess with her? Because Moondancer-style teleportation is a solo endeavor, so she has to rely on jump styles she's not familiar with.


	25. manic panic and the Rex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> there's art for this chapter! also, gabriel's in this. bc I am doing a version of this with TVOK either ch17 or ch18 depending on how much I want to timeskip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey party people, did ya miss me?

“So-”

“Lester, don’t pretend that you didn’t know about this,” Cutter snorts, “You were in this from the start, once we let Matt into the Network.  _ Connor _ is the last person to know.”

“Don’t we run security checks for this kind of thing?”

“Sorry sir,” Becker offers, “The machine that checks if people are from the future was out of order. And why are you freaking out about this now?”

“Because I don’t ask  _ questions _ about what the rest of you are doing as long as none of you are actively dying? And I deserve the ability to freak out about this?”

“To be fair, technically this is the future for me,” Emily offers, raising her hand. Lester glares.

“So. Philip was in league with Helen-”

“Boo!” Shoshannah interrupts. Lester glares. Danny snorts, and explains.

“We’ve been so preoccupied with this that we sort of… missed Purim.”

“Don’t do it again. So, Philip was in league with Helen, and the machine he’s building is the trigger to the end of the world?”

As they continue to discuss, Shoshannah seems to have something of a lightbulb moment, tapping her foot against the ground as she tries to reach someone on the phone. By the time the connection’s solid and she’s arguing with them to get here already, the alarm has already sounded.

* * *

Shoshannah calls him at four o’clock in the morning, and Gabriel whines as he rolls out of bed.

_ “I’m sorry, but we need you here. Normally we’d go through Lester and then your dad, but seriously-” _

“I get it, cuz,” he replies, “I just need a minute or two to stabilize and then another few after that to grab my passport.”

_ “Right, you need that.” _

“Yes, Shoshannah, I need to get my passport because a random American in London right now is going to raise some eyebrows.”

_ “You missed the joke.” _

“Ah, shit, I did, didn’t I? Okay, you can say it. I’m not going to fall over. Even if it is four in the AM.”

_ “Fine. An American werewolf in London is going to be raising eyebrows anyways.” _

“Shoshannah Azose, you are damn well aware that we are not werewolves.”

_ “I know, but the joke is funny.” _

Gabriel manages to find his sweatshirt and groans when he realizes he’s forgotten where his passport is again.

“Hang on a second. Hey, Dad, you know where my passport is?”

“The Brits stealing you?”

“They’ve never done this before, I don’t exactly know why I’m coming over.”

_ “To be fair, we’ve visited you, you’ve never visited us.” _

He rolls his eyes, and digs through the bag that David points out until he can find his vital documentation. He then ends the call, and turns on a dime.

“Oh, great,” Shoshannah says when he appears in the middle of the British team’s bullpen, “You made it.”

“I swear, if there’s a good reason you’re calling me at four in the morning, you’d better tell me  _ right _ now, or else I don’t think I can forgive you.”

Shoshannah fiddles awkwardly, before wrapping him up in a hug.

“Good to see you too, cuz. Now. Explanations. Why am I being dragged here at nine London time?”

Shoshannah sighs. Beyond Stephen, who waves, Gabriel knows absolutely zero of the people here, which means he’s relying on his cousin to do the explanations.

“When I called you, there wasn’t one. But there’s a Rex in the city centre now, and I figured calling up a tyrannosaur expert was a good idea.”

Gabriel growls.

“If we can’t get it back through the anomaly, Boston calls dibs. There’s no way any of the rest of you have the space for a Rex.”

* * *

“Well, there’s no fucking way we’re keeping the anomalies a secret after this,” Gabriel says, cocking his head towards the massive Tyrannosaurus rex in the middle of the road.

“Eh, we managed to shut people up after a Carcharodontosaurus, and didn’t you keep a Daspletosaurus sub-adult a secret after she ran all the way through Boston?”

“It was not  _ all the way through Boston, _ Shoshannah, don’t exaggerate. And yes. Yes we did.”

“You think you can calm this thing down?”

“I think if I had my usual backup I wouldn’t have to even think about calming it down, but this should work. Sir?” Gabriel asks, nodding towards the man he’s seen on David’s video calls many a time before.

“You called Gabriel, then?”

“More archosauripaths are better than less, and he’s got tyrannosaur experience on top of it. Come on, cousin, let’s get to work.”

“Alright, the plan stays almost exactly the same. Jess, Cutter, you coordinate, Stephen, Sarah, you work on the cover story, the Azoses, Danny, Abby, Emily, Zehavi and Becker, you’re on the T-Rex- Becker’s in charge after me. Connor, keep Philip here.”

“Shoshannah, what’s going on here?” he asks as they load into the cars. Shoshannah is shaking, more than a little bit.

“Something I can’t tell you right now, just trust me and trust my pack.”

“I do.”

“Alright, keep that mindset while we deal with this, then, or it’s gonna be a real shitshow.”

Gabriel bumps her side carefully while they’re in the car, narrowing his eyes as he looks for a weapon.

“We’ve got an EMD for you, don’t think about that. Now, what do you usually do to calm down a tyrannosaur?”

“Apex predators are usually completely certain about themselves- you have to do something that makes them doubt that certainty, make yourself something worthy to listen to, which means we’re going to have to grab its attention, and we’re going to have to do that flawlessly. Also, I think I’m going to need an array to get back home, there’s no way I’m going to have the energy to jump without leaving half of me behind once we’re done with this.”

“Alright, okay, punch a hole in a Rex’s ego. We can do that. We  _ can _ do that, right? Right, Gabriel?”

“Yeah,” he replies, squeezing his own hands so hard that when he opens them again he can see where some places begin to bleed before they rapidly close back over, “Yeah, we can.”

* * *

The brat is too many centimetres taller than he is and it’s really not fun for Becker to deal with, but he’s going to deal with it. Especially since this one’s clearly either more used to a military style of running things than Shoshannah, or is just more used to carrying out orders cleanly. He listens to what Becker tells him to do and doesn’t immediately put himself into danger. Although, Becker’s not going to rule out the idea that he’s just trying to get on the co-workers of his family’s good side.

“Right, you said something about embarrassing a Tyrannosaurus?” Becker finally asks. The brat nods, and moves forwards quietly, growling.

He moves before any of them have time to realize he’s done it, changing skins and torpedoing down the road. Shoshannah follows him.

Becker curses idiotic self-sacrificial Moondancers until he realizes that Zehavi still hasn’t left his side. It’s an Azose thing, apparently. He nods, and his lieutenant takes her leave, dashing after them just as quickly. Becker looks around to realize he’s let most of those with an active combat mutation chase after the tyrannosaur, and is left with a plant manipulator with not enough green in sight, a healer (who, admittedly, would be very useful right about now  _ if there was not a pressing threat) _ , a general magic user, and himself. A telepath.

Becker does not like those odds, but he will deal with them. It’s fine. They have the EMDs.

* * *

Zehavi curses her cousins all the way until she catches up with them, when it turns into the exact opposite.

She doesn’t know how Gabriel acquired a Daspletosaurus skin (no wait, she actually does, now that she thinks about it), but him in that skin and Shoshannah’s Giganotosaurus skin make a formidable circling pair, low rumbles shaking the ground.

She catches sight of the T-Rex, and her breath leaves her.

If it hadn’t been going on a murder spree, she might have called it gorgeous. Its heavy head is almost pitch-black, and the countershading is anything but smooth, a thick white stripe that starts under said heavy head and waves down most of the body. The feathers and scales blur together, but the former are clearly present in some capacity. Past the shoulders, and even more so past the hips, the black transitions into black-barred blue, and then simply plain blue.

If there hadn’t been her cousins in the form of a Daspletosaurus and a Giganotosaurus in between her and the Rex, she would be very, very dead right about now.

It’s impressive, she thinks, how apex predators can be so, so beautiful, and so, so deadly. She’d thought she’d gotten used to it.

Zehavi looks at the injured around her- so many of them- and rolls up her sleeves, gritting her teeth. The pups and Matt have this one.

She hears the EMD ring out several times while she’s acting as a living battery for Abby to boost her healing, and healing others herself. She hears the heavy body hit the ground, and winces. Thing’s probably cracked a rib under its own weight.

The pups can yell at it later.

Jess’s voice rings through the earpiece, loud and clear, calm in a crisis and always level-headed and brilliant.

They've talked about it, sure, the fact that it's something they're both interested in, but in that moment, Jess shouting directions in their ears, Zehavi knows:

She is going to marry this woman.

* * *

Gabriel’s not even back at the British ARC by the time they become well-aware of the new anomalies.

“Ah, shit, you guys are having your first Hell Week, huh?” he asks, looking over the data Jess has sent Matt on his phone.

“Hell week?”

“You know? Two or three anomalies a  _ day _ , at least? For a period of up to and over a week? Last time it happened none of us could leave Boston for the out-of-towners because we were getting four a day for eight full days. It’s grueling and awful and you never get to wear a clean set of clothes and  _ so many people die _ if you can’t get from one to the next in time, but it’s usually bearable and it’s definitely good team buildi-”

_ ‘Get back here. Now. We’ve got two, simultaneous, one with a Diplodocus right out of town.’ _

“Shit, I’ve got to go and back up my people. Mind helping me set up a jump so I can do that?”

“Yeah, we can get you something that will drop you right in your bullpen. Hell Week, you said?”

“Might not be. Usually only one place gets ‘em at once.”

“Shit.”

“Exactly my sentiment towards this scenario, Matt Anderson.”

* * *

Gabriel shakes himself off as he makes his way into the middle of the Boston bullpen, the pleasant rumble of a calm Daspletosaurus shaking the building.

“Hey, Gabe?” Jeremy asks. Gabriel turns.

“Yeah?”

“What was that about?”

“Check the news, Jeremy. We’re going to have a lot of explaining to do, and not nearly enough time to do it.”

“Oh. Oh, no.”

“Welcome to your first Hell Week, darlin’. Except this isn’t a normal Hell week, it’s a worldwide Hell Week. Dad, roll your dice and make ‘em good.”

He pauses for breath, looking at the transportation array in the corner, and sends out  _ best of luck _ to the other telepaths he can feel buzzing along the back of his brain.

“We’re gonna need the luck.”

* * *

_ “Call in everyone who’s off shift,” _ Jess says,  _ “I don’t care where they are, they’re on duty. There’s going to be so many of you out in the field I’m going to assign team names. Alpha, Delta, and so on.” _

Emily frowns, and taps her foot against the ground.

“Call in Rebecca and Patrick, too.”

“She’s right,” Becker says, “Rebecca was team leader between Danny going missing and the shutdown of the ARC, we can trust her to take one. Cutter leads one from comms-”

“I’ll take dealing with New Dawn, Danny can take one, and Stephen can take one,” Matt finishes, “Shoshannah, you go with whoever is dealing with the most dangerous archosaurs at the moment- be prepared to make jumps- Zehavi, you’re the same but on non-archosaurian large animals, and that goes for Sarah and Emily as well. We’re not here to stop Convergence, we’re here to stop New Dawn, but we need to make sure as few people get hurt now as we can manage.”

If they don’t, it’s the start of the end. Emily knows that much.

She grabs a bag of seed- a large one- from a local shop that seems to primarily be selling bird feeders. It won’t be as good as a forest, but it’ll do.

Ooh, ivy seeds. Excellent.

Matt explains Convergence in the backs of all of their heads while Emily forms her plant bombs in the passenger seat, prepared to throw them at large animals and/or Philip if it’s proven necessary.

* * *

Danny takes Alpha Team, and Shoshannah, because like hell the father-daughter duo are being split at such a critical time. Their first issue is the fact that nobody can breathe, which is bypassed by the fact that apparently, Patrick is a) very good at finding out where they both are and b) very good at turning air that is not breathable into air that is breathable. Shoshannah shouts an apology as she darts away to wherever has the biggest and most dangerous archosaur- she’s no more useful  _ here _ than either of the other Quinns.

“Thank you,” Danny says to his brother once he’s back on his feet.

“Was about time I started earning my keep anyways,” Patrick replies, “Rebecca gave me a communicator. These are  _ fancy, _ Danny, how’d they convince you to wear them?”

“Jokes are my thing, and not now, Patrick,” Danny hisses in response. The worms are not doing very well. That’s a good thing, he hopes, because Becker and Abby arrive with the breathing tubes just in time before the gas starts pouring out of the anomaly again, and the worms start doing better.

“You know, I remember these things,” Abby says, though her voice is muffled through the mask, “Our first mission with Jenny.”

Danny doesn’t remember it. He wasn’t there long enough. But something about the name  _ Jenny _ seems to remind Lester of something.

Speaking of Lester, he’s more active, more agitated, too. The chain of command at this point is wonky at best most of the time but right now, right now it  _ solidifies _ in this sharp, crystal clear moment, with Lester and Cutter at the head of this great beast, and Matt, Danny himself, and Rebecca following not too far behind.

Danny wouldn’t have it any other way. Lester may have a stick up him half the time, but he’s got a cool head in a crisis, and they need that right now far more than they need someone they can grab a beer with.

* * *

_ ‘Ah, fuck,’ _ Connor thinks, listening to the Kaprosuchus snuffle around the car park while he frantically tries to dial Matt, and mentally smacks himself. He doesn’t need to do that. He’s got twelve perfectly good people to ask.

_ ‘JESS!’  _ he yells, just to be heard over whatever else she’s directing,  _ ‘I’M INJURED AND IN A CAR CRASH AND I CAN’T MOVE AND THERE’S A CROCODILIAN HERE. CAN YOU PLEASE SEND SOMEONE.’ _

_ ‘Will you not yell, I’m trying to focus. Yes, I can manage that, I’ll see who can get to you in time because I can’t leave my station.’ _

Connor sighs, and reaches out to someone else, anyone else. His head wraps around half a dozen of his packmates before he starts clinging desperately to Shoshannah, who seems like his best bet at the moment.

_ ‘I’ll be there. Stephen, too.’ _

Good. She is. She’s tracked him before, at least- well, both of them did, and the similarities between the two days are too close for Connor’s comfort. He just hopes nobody this time is going to lose a leg. Or their life. Either one would suck.

_ ‘Stanley Street Car Park. Get here as fast as you can.’ _

In the meantime, he’s going to figure out how to get what he needs for the EMD to work again back into the car with him so he can shoot the Kaprosuchus if he needs it.

* * *

If Matt wasn’t filled with instinctual dread while looking at the facility, he might not have been entirely sure of it being the correct one. But looking at it now- yeah, he’s right. Emily shifts from foot to foot nervously, cloth “seed bombs” (they’re nothing like actual seed bombs- Matt had looked those up when he’d tried to start gardening in this modern world where that was possible, he’d loved the idea of being surrounded by green life all the time, and he thinks that younger Matt might have actually proposed on the spot if he’d seen what Emily can do, the kind of prosperity she can wreak if given seeds and sunlight and not much else) at her sides.

He can hear pterosaurs, and curses under his breath when he realizes that the usual suspects when there’s pterosaurs around aren’t present, and they’re going to have to treat them like any other animal.

* * *

Shoshannah leans out the window, yelling various obscenities at the Kaprosuchus. Stephen resists the urge to laugh, given the dire situation, and also resists the urge to let Shoshannah out of the car so it can be a real fight, because he’s under strict orders to let  _ nothing _ happen to their ace in the hole until someone else can take care of this, which means when the pup tries to shove herself out the window, swearing all the while at the crocodilian that’s several times her size, it’s up to Stephen to grab her by the scruff and haul her back inside the car.

He leans on the horn for good measure. Both because it might snap Shoshannah out of whatever mood she’s in right now and because it’ll get the Kaprosuchus to pay some attention to them instead. He manages to bait it into a charge, trusting Shoshannah to fire the requisite shots out of the window, before they swap who has the gun and she runs off to flip Connor’s car back over.

Which, she does. Stephen always forgets how strong the Moondancers are, with how much they like hiding their muscles, until something like this happens, and Shoshannah can easily roll a car back into the right position.

“Abby will be here in a few, we’re swapping out,” she says to him as they haul him out of the car. Stephen acts halfway on instinct- maybe it’s just that he’s the oldest here, he’s not sure- and grabs both of them, tucking Connor under his chin and coming to some sort of spatial arrangement with Shoshannah so he can hug both of them at once.

“Once this is over,” Abby says, finally arrived and carrying her own gun, “We really need to have a proper movie night, all of us, no matter how hard it’ll be to squish that many people into one room.”

“Right,” Shoshannah agrees, “Wow, it’s been… too long.”

Stephen knows exactly what they’re talking about. Physical contact between packmates is more than just nice, it’s necessary, and he’s glad they’re not kicking up too much of a fuss about anyone needing it.

“I need to make it right,” Connor says. Stephen and Shoshannah look at one another while Abby and Connor have their moment, silently judging the fact that a) those two have to do this  _ now _ and b) neither of their significant others are here so they can’t have a similarly sappy moment.

“You two will be alright, yeah?” Shoshannah asks, “We’ve got a titanosaur about a half hour from here that Dad keeps telling me to go and take care of.”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine, we’re headed out now.”

* * *

Matt resists the urge to just Insist telepathically and see what happens. For all they know, it’ll get one of these soldiers to fire.

He regrets not following that instinct to tell them not to move when the pterosaurs make it under the door. He and Emily hide while the storm passes, and he nearly fires his weapon when a  _ bang! _ announces the arrival of Abby and Connor.

Normally, he’d fuss for a little while, ask them how they’re doing and if there’s anything  _ he _ can do to make them feel safer because he’s an obsessive, overprotective packmate and he wants to make sure they’re safe, but they don’t have the time for that. As requested, he leaves dealing with that terrible machine to Connor, who clearly knows what he’s doing even if he had to be mildly violently reasoned with back when they were trying to convince him.

Matt should have trusted him earlier, though, and he regrets not doing such deep down in his bones. Connor has taken this whole thing in stride, taken responsibility immediately, and would have believed him first of all of them, too, at least as soon as Matt had showed the younger (older?) man his memories of a future he desperately hopes will never come to pass.

He’s on Philip. Matt can take care of that much, keep it off their shoulders.

* * *

Emily’s seed bombs are more than just useful, they’re life-saving. Abby doesn’t have to tell her that much twice when she covers them in a cage of ivy so thick the pterosaurs think twice about going for them. Abby can remember these things- she remembers them well, and points out how similar they are to the ones they’d seen and run from when her and Connor had just started out.

She lets him go. He knows what he’s doing, until he doesn’t.

With a feeling like lead in the pit of her stomach, Abby knows their luck-  _ Connor’s _ luck, the luck that’s never left him a day in his life since it was first activated-

It’s run out.

* * *

Matt has never sunk his feelers into someone’s head before, has never turned their own expertise and plans against them like a key in the ignition, but he might have to, seeing what stands in front of him. But when he reaches out-

“Telepathic blockers,” he hisses in realization. He hasn’t used them himself in- well, not since before Connor and Abby got back, at least. He’s forgotten how they feel from the other end, how wrong and sick they are to a telepath, and understands for one shining moment how it must have felt for the other three, to be party to that, to know that their leader didn’t trust them when they were supposed to be trusting  _ him. _

“Connor’s not the only one I don’t trust,” Philip replies, “You telepaths, you always get so  _ protective _ of one another- if I’d even thought about something as mild as setting hours in a way that indirectly negatively impacted one of you, I’d have been a dead man walking. Now, what are you going to do now? Kill me?”

“Yeah,” Matt replies, “If I have to.”

“I don’t believe you,” Philip whispers back, eyes almost aglow. Matt punches him in the stomach instead, and sends out a siren of sorts to the rest of the network-  _ help this is not going well. _

* * *

Emily’s seed-bombs cover half of the initiation area, when Abby has a lightbulb moment. Nobody here seems to know how much well-placed roots can disrupt electrical utility lines, and if the power’s shut down, then maybe, just maybe, they’ll be able to make it out of this alive.

Of course, she’s going to have to fight her way out of this first.

* * *

Shoshannah’s seen five T’karians, eighteen dragons, at least four other Moondancers, and a significant plethora of other supernatural beings in the several hours she’s spent bouncing around town like a maniac. By the time she stops to catch her breath by a fountain and  _ another _ anomaly opens up not half a kilometre from her, she’s ready to keel over and stare at nothing for at least a minute.

“Did you,” she asks her mother, who’s arrived almost to the second when the anomaly opened, with a handful of Absorption-Conversion users trying to get a locking device working faster, “Did you ask all of supernatural London for help?”

“It’s 2019, dear, I posted it on Twitter.”

A selkie- a familiar one with a Ringed Seal’s skin thrown over her shoulder- dashes towards the big cat that makes its way through the anomaly.

“Is that Aunt Sylvia?” she asks. Rebecca tosses her a granola bar and a water bottle, both of which Shoshannah downs gratefully. Another Ringed Seal moves to take her place, and-

Shoshannah  _ knows _ some of those features, sees them on her own face every day. The ones she’d gotten from her dad-

Well, no time to think about it now. Right now, she’s got to get to a-

The anomalies begin to close. A few seconds pass, and then-

This is the second time she’s felt this, or something similar to it. It’s not like before, not a clean break- instead, it’s chaotic, messy, uncomfortable, but not entirely gone, and she will cling to that  _ not entirely gone _ with every piece she has in her, because-

It’s Connor. Again. Of course it is.

Shoshannah decides that the ground is a nice place to pass out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, there is art for this one (specifically my tyrannosaurus rex design)! I have art for Speak posted on my deviantart account, TheOrderOfAssassins.  
> and whooo boy have these last few chapters been LONG  
> I am criminally underusing Patrick here, tbh, but i've got Plans for this man. i couldn't figure out a way to just kill him off or put him in prison without putting undue strain on the group so i'm going to use him.


	26. in which the pack need to get their stuff together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> second to last chapter (last one out in a bit!!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh, hey, look, this happened again

Rebecca’s daughter has passed out on the fountain. That’s nice. That’s good to know. She’s seen this before, when her husband (yes, it is husband, Patrick, you nosy idiot, she’d just not kicked up a fuss about her wedding, she’d had an ostentatious one the first time around but that relationship had  _ not _ ended well) and Connor and Abby had gotten trapped, and she knows it’s something resembling the same, but not quite the same. She’s not as connected to Connor as any of the pack is- she doesn’t  _ hurt _ as much, knowing that he’s missing, not in the same way that Shoshannah does. She’s not panicking. She’s  _ definitely _ not panicking.

Tina, bless her, is over in an instant, Sylvia not far behind. Rebecca had met her daughter’s younger half-sister in a rather complicated manner, but it’s firmed her resolve against her ex-husband more than anything else. She  _ will _ hit him over the head with a raptor if she ever sees him again.

“Is she alright?”

“No, but she will be. Can someone call Hilary and Zehavi? I’m worried about them,” she says, “They’ve got the closest connections to the rest of their little Network, they’ll feel the effects the worst.”

“Hilary?”

“Captain Becker. Sylvia, if you make fun of that man’s name, you aren’t allowed to show up for raptor rehab anymore.”

Speaking of raptor rehab, a large, familiar golden eagle lands awkwardly on the fountain, panting. Zehavi manages to shift back before passing out as well. Great. Now Rebecca has  _ two _ of her relatives to awkwardly stuff into her car so she can get them back to the ARC. If Hilary falls on her windshield on the way there, it’s going to serve her right for being so confident in herself when her daughter had fainted.

She drags well over a hundred kilos of Moondancer into the car, and sighs.

“You two going to be alright?” she asks before she leaves.

Sylvia and Tina nod.

“Alright, then, time to see if the world’s going to end.”

In case it doesn’t, she checks in to make sure Patrick’s gotten back home all right. Better for whoever was relieved of babysitting duty (because it’s on a  _ cycle _ at this point) to go home to their own family.

* * *

Matt is in full-blown panic mode, and he thinks he might be the only person in the Network with a live connection to Connor right now. He’s not entirely sure  _ why  _ that is, or why it makes him feel like he’s about to keel over, but it’s good. Connor’s there, in the back of his head. Even if he is likely sobbing his eyes out and clinging to Matt with all that he has.

And of course, Abby and Emily are arguing over who goes through the anomaly.

“Hey. HEY! I’m going,” he says, because he  _ can’t _ let this happen to Abby, she’s got to  _ be here, _ they can’t lose the same pair twice in the span of two years.

“No, no, no, I’m going to come with you,” Abby replies, tears in her eyes as Matt takes the gun away from her. Matt shakes his head.

“No! I’m going to go, and I’ll bring him back.  _ I promise. _ You’re going to stay here because we need  _ both _ of you here, okay?”

“Why-”

“My connection with Connor’s still active, I’ll be able to find him.”

The anomaly is unstable, frazzled. Perhaps that’s why the rest of them can’t feel Connor.

He steps through the anomaly… and the feedback loop to the rest of the team is ripped and torn like fraying thread, still barely there but oh-so-painful to keep open.

Was  _ this _ how it felt for Becker and Shoshannah, when Connor and Abby and Danny were split from the rest? Or is it worse for him because he’s a telepath on the one side with only one?

It takes a few moments for Matt to realize where he is, and the bile rises higher in his throat when he does. He knows this place, knows it too well, and if he’s going to survive, if he’s going to bring Connor back, he’s going to have to shove all of  _ this _ into the back of his head and lock away the key until he comes  _ home _ (because this place has never been  _ home) _ and holds every single one of them to reassure himself they’re all still alive.

He sinks his feelers closer into Connor, as much as he can manage, feels Connor reach back out desperately, both of them Severed and Lost from the rest of them.

* * *

Matt is gone. Hils is here.

Zehavi curls up tighter with her cousin and her friend, and tries to avoid falling apart for just a moment longer.

It’s got to suck for the rest of them, though, so many out of commission.

* * *

He can feel Connor reaching back out, and manages to get  _ close _ , before the shout helps him and his eyes and ears can take over from the tugging in the back of his head.

He reaches Connor before long, stumbling past one of Emily’s lost plant bombs through the portal, a pine that’s clinging desperately to life and won’t manage much longer.

“I can’t breathe,” Connor hisses, and Matt’s stomach drops like an anchor. He can hear the scuttling, the clicking of familiar enemies in the distance, and far too close for comfort.

The low hum of electricity distracts him as Connor fires off a sparking bolt of what almost seems like real lightning, distracting the beast long enough for another to attack it. He blinks, and remembers-

Connor seems to have forgotten about this secondary power of his too, until he manages-

“Well, it’s a good thing we’re not just gonna be relying on my Luck, isn’t it?” he gasps out. For him, Matt forces a chuckle. It might make Connor feel just a little bit better, which in itself might keep Matt from panicking just a little bit longer.

“Okay, on three we’re going to move,” he says, and to Connor’s protests, “You’re gonna do it, mate, you’re gonna do it.”

“Move back. We’ve gotta move back,” he says. The first beast loses, and the second jumps forwards (there’s not enough time for Connor to react and fire his own shots-)

Abby gets there first, firing two into the predator’s torso, and reaches them not long after.

There’s a windstorm, on the horizon. He gets them both to the shelter, looks for water, somewhere, anywhere-

“What is this place?” Abby asks. With a heavy heart, Matt replies-

“Our only hope.”

He still hasn’t let himself devolve into a panic over the sheer  _ lack _ he feels right now.

* * *

On the other side of the anomaly, three others steady their stomachs and right their minds and get back to work.

They’ve done this before. Well, Shoshannah and Becker have done this before. Missing three isn’t all that strange, not really.

* * *

Matt gets the generator working, and starts looking for water.

“How did you know this place was here?” Abby asks, but Matt can’t think about that (or anything else), because he’s looking for water.

He looks up when she asks again.

“This is my time. But I’m guessing later. Or close to it.”

“You actually lived out there?”

“Nothing can survive out there, Abby. Except those ugly freaks.”

The first bottle he gets is alcohol. The second- the second one is clean.

He brings it to Connor, who drinks it down greedily, while he grabs another for Abby and a third for himself, and stares up at the trapdoor.

“The storms are erratic and hard to predict. We’re going to have to time this carefully.”

“Are you alright?” Abby asks him, and-

And Matt isn’t. He’s not okay. He doesn’t know what snapped or frayed bonds feel like to non-telepathic folk, he never has and he never will, and he crumples to the floor and just… sits, for a moment.

“So, you lived… underground? Here?” Abby asks, clearly trying to bring him out of it. Matt stands, for a moment, and slumps back down again, this time close enough to Connor that he can press his side into the other man’s, a reassurance that at least some of  _ his  _ people remain.

“Yeah,” he says, head half buried in Connor’s hair while his hand finds Abby’s, “We moved from shelter to shelter, tried to avoid the storms… fought the predators. When I got to your time, I thought… I thought it was the Garden of Eden.”

“We’ll get back,” Abby says, “We’ll get back. And we’ll fix it.”

Connor weakly squeezes his other hand.

“Where’s everyone now?”

“Everyone is  _ dead, _ Connor,” he hisses, head against the wall so they can’t see him crying, but he  _ knows _ it’s leaked into his voice, “If you feel up to it, go and have a good look. This is what New Dawn did to the earth- turned it into hell.”

Connor tucks his head into Matt’s side. So does Abby. And right now, he knows, even now that he’s not far from snapping himself- he’s the closest thing to a protector that these people have.

He’ll do right by them. And he’ll make it home.

He has to.

* * *

The lights go out, and she still has her seed bombs with her- not many left, but enough to do the job that she needs them to do.

Emily sets the seed bombs below the door, as well as she can, before-

The door flies off its hinges, and a hand grabs hers, another hand grabbing that one to steady it.

“Don’t ask me to drive again, Sarah,” Zehavi hisses, “The connection’s fluctuating so much I might pass out from the pressure. But like hell I’m not going to show up to help my friends, even if the world’s about to end.”

“The other two?” Emily asks. Zehavi snorts.

“They’re gonna get here eventually. You think Shosh would miss an opportunity to hit something with her bat for the first time in a while?”

Emily thinks back. Zehavi’s right. Shoshannah does like hitting things. She likes hitting things a  _ lot. _

“Even if it’s the end of the world, we still have to save them,” Emily replies with a laugh.

“It’s not going to be the end of the world,” Zehavi says, “Not yet, at least.”

She sounds so sure of herself then. Emily doesn’t know why, doesn’t know how someone faced with such certain death would cling to hope when Zehavi is anything but naive.

She’ll take the hope, though. Maybe it’ll count for something.

* * *

Connor wriggles himself so that he can… sort of sit up, with Matt’s arm still draped across his shoulders.

“Helen won,” he says, “And I helped her. All I ever wanted to do was prove to Cutter, to you all that you were right to trust me, that I could help, and I ended up just betraying everything that we’ve ever stood for.”

Matt pulls him closer to his chest, and Abby switches sides so that she’s hugging him too, and it almost feels right, like the puppy piles they used to have when he and Abby had just gotten back, but they’re separated from so many of Connor’s favorite people and he just… he can’t.

He cries.

But, at least, in this world on fire at the end of all that he knows, he has two people that he cares about so dearly, willing to hold him while he sobs his eyes out.

* * *

Jess doesn’t know what she is without her computers, but she can start to try. She makes the first jump to find Becker, who’s trying to gain access to the armory now that their primarily electronic locks aren’t working. That’s about when the lights come back on, and she flickers back to her primary station, just as Lester ‘strolls’ in (his practiced walk says ‘stroll’, his panicked body language says ‘terrified powerwalk’).

“Are you okay? What happened?”

“According to Zavi, New Dawn did,” Shoshannah groans, finally off the floor, “Does anyone have… I dunno, four thousand milligrams of actetaminophen?”

“I was about to say ‘could Philip not afford to pay the electricity bill’, but…” Lester trails off. Shoshannah continues to rub the spot between her eyes.

“Zavi’s already left, Becker’s gone to get guns, I don’t know where anyone else is and my cousin is having a breakdown in a room filled with tyrannosaurs, but we’re otherwise fine,” she hums.

“There was some kind of electrical surge,” Jess explains, “Everything went dead. We’re on emergency power. The system is fried, the detector’s offline and I can’t get through to  _ anyone _ on the comms. And I can’t even rely on our backup- the Network’s so close to down right now-”

“Because Connor and Abby and Matt are all gone and I am going to curl up and fall apart if we open it up right now,” Shoshannah adds.

“Okay, then, we’ll just get someone to fix it,” Lester says. Jess shakes her head.

“ _ Everyone _ except us four is out in the field. And I don’t think the power-out is restricted to the ARC.”

“Philip’s infernal machine,” Lester curses, “We have anyone not in the know we could call?”

“Mum’s called in half of supernatural London to help us out, she figured they’d keep quiet if we asked them to,” Shoshannah adds, “The only real person we  _ can  _ call anymore would be Jenny.”

“Let’s call Jenny, then,” Lester says, “Not like it could get much worse, and we could use a PR magician or two, now.”

Becker barrels through the door armed to the teeth, right as Jess’s phone rings.

“It’s Stephen,” she says, but when she picks up, it’s Cutter- occasionally interrupted by Stephen- who answers.

_ “The electricity is out all across the city,” _ he says,  _ “It’s as if someone set off some sort of massive electro-magnetic weapon. What does Anderson say?” _

“You know damn well we’ve lost touch with him,” Lester bites, “Get to New Dawn and find out what’s going on.”

_ “Stephen, could you try it now?” _ Cutter hollers, and all four of them on their side can hear the engine turn over,  _ “We’ll be on our way.” _

“I don’t like this,” Becker says, “We should be doing something.”

“Jess, do you think I could add to the generator with Absorption-Conversion of some of the heat in the area? I don’t practice nearly enough, but I can power electrical units if I’m doing nothing else.”

“Looks like we won’t be getting out of here for a while,” Jess says, “So why not, let’s try.”

* * *

The lovebirds are having a Moment, so Matt will leave them to themselves for a moment while he manages to struggle to his feet.

He knows that neither of them will leave Connor to himself.

“Never,” Abby says, “That’s the deal.”

Now, Matt thinks he needs to interject.

“I need you to stop that machine. I can’t do it. Come on, nothing’s finished yet.”

“Connor,” Abby whispers, still loud enough that Matt can hear her but not so loud that he thinks it’s his business to keep interjecting, “You have to go back.”

Connor must say something, because Abby’s posture stiffens.

“Because,” Abby says… and Matt doesn’t hear what she says, but it’s clearly something very emotional.

Wait, is she pregnant? Is she? Matt’s not sure if that’s something someone reveals when the world is about to end. Or is it? Matt’s not sure if he remembers being in contact with many pregnant people before going back in time. Well, there was that one woman, but-

Is Abby even pregnant, though? Probably not, but Matt’s brain has latched on to this one concept and it is not going to let it go for the world. He’ll ask later. He will  _ not _ imply that he thinks Abby is pregnant. Over a decade in the ‘modern era’ has taught him that is  _ rude. _

By the time Matt snaps out of it, the other two are already ready to go. Practically the second he opens the hatch, the Predators move in, and Matt has never been more grateful in his life for two things-

One, the EMD in his hands, and two-

The fact that he’s got two people at his back that he trusts with his life.

They burst through the anomaly, and go hunting for Philip.

* * *

Zehavi grabs Emily by the back of her neck before she spills off the railing like someone’s already clearly done.

“Thanks,” Emily says, and Zehavi nods and lets her jaws go slack as she makes her way down the stairs, claws out at the ready.

She nearly doubles over when she  _ feels it, _ knows that they’ve come back and there’s nothing to be worried about because at least for the time being, they’re alive.

Zehavi feels Sarah’s hand in the scruff of her side as the archaeologist tries to stabilize herself. Emily moves on ahead, and Zehavi and Sarah follow, searching for their missing puzzle pieces that they  _ know _ walk along this road.

She can hear them, up ahead, and shifts back, resisting the urge to bowl all of them over in relief. Emily gets there first, still weaponless, while they split up.

“I’ll go with you, Matt. Emily, Sarah, with Connor and Abby.”

“We’re on it.”

* * *

Jess fingers the ring that’s been in the pocket of her shirt for the last few weeks that she’ll likely never get to use, before she turns to Lester.

“What if they’ve failed?” she asks, more to herself and the world than Lester, “And this is- this is the beginning of the end, just like Matt said?”

She knows they’re not dead. She can feel them, threads still strong despite the fraying, like a spiderweb of over a dozen people.

“They’re not dead, Jess, we know that much, and it’s  _ not _ the end of the world. If it was, someone would have sent us a memo.”

Something they hadn’t warned her about, in that time Before The ARC, before she knew about dinosaurs, that time that feels like a lifetime ago now- was just how  _ funny _ Lester is. Despite herself, and despite the situation, Jess snorts.

“You know what my father used to say when things got rough?” Lester asks, and shimmies like he’s about to make an impression, “‘Where’s that ruddy whiskey?’”

Jess laughs harder. The backup generator pushes more into the lights. Must be Shoshannah or someone else having finally figured out how to get it to run on them instead.

That is, of course, before she spots the Future Predator.

She’s seen them before- not herself, but in Zehavi’s mind, after she’d come back, when she’d shown Jess what happened in the in-between. She knows why Lester tells her to not make a sound.

She knows it  _ very _ well.

* * *

“I can shut this machine down,” Philip says, “But when I do, there won’t be much left of this building. You need to leave, both of you.”

“Can’t we shut it down and make a run for it?” Matt asks, “Or-”   
“I can’t shut it down and I can’t make a jump with the both of you,” Zehavi cuts in. The lead in Matt’s stomach buries itself deeper.

“As soon as I take the last system offline, it’ll be like… slamming the brakes on an aircraft traveling five hundred miles an hour.”

“Everything in here will be vaporized?” Matt asks, “Including you, Philip?”

“Matt,” Philip replies, “I’m the bad guy.”

“That’s still on Helen. You were told you were saving the world by a pretty girl, who wouldn’t listen?” Zehavi asks, before “Listen, I’m… I’m so sorry, Philip. When they hear what happened, if we manage it, if we see tomorrow’s sunrise- they’re going to hear about this part. I promise.”

Philip nods, and takes a shuddering breath, before grabbing a hand of theirs each in his own, and shaking them awkwardly.

“Don’t make this all for nothing,” he instructs. Matt nods. In the corner of his eye, he can see Zehavi doing the same.

As one, they bolt. Zehavi grabs Connor by the scruff halfway between forms when he won’t budge (to Matt it looks very awkward, but it doesn’t waste time), and lets Sarah cling to her side as they  _ run _ as far as her paws can take the three of them, Abby and Emily and Matt trying their best to keep up.

It doesn’t work.

Matt turns, and realizes they’ve just sacrificed a man’s  _ life _ for  _ nothing. _ The bile rises in his throat. Zehavi pads beside him, eyes gone wide. She looks  _ feral _ now, feral and terrified.

Matt understands the feeling.

* * *

“We’ve got one shot, maybe two,” Lester says, looking out the window, “It’s not going to be enough.”

He misses real guns.

“Okay, we’re going to have to get to the armory,” Lester whispers. Jess blinks.   
“Shouldn’t we stay here? I’ve been pushing at the rest of them, someone should get it.”

Lester shakes his head.

“Becker’s just left, the rest are meeting up away from here. That leaves-”

They both know the only person that’s left. Fortunately, she’s also the most well-versed among them in taking out a Future Predator with nothing but her teeth. Unfortunately, she’s a) powering the building right now and b) the only forms that are actually useful for this sort of thing are all incapable of use, given the size of the building.

They manage to make it to the armory alright, Lester using his telekinesis to insure that none of the opening boxes make too much noise. That is, until his concentration breaks, and one of the boxes falls like a stone.

He knows the clicking. He’s heard it before, too many times, the chattering sound. With it, comes something louder, meaner, lower- doesn’t quite make it  _ in time, _ but close enough.

Becker arrives to find him and Jess alive, though Lester is a little worse for wear, and Shoshannah looking like a proud cat with a mouse, a Future Predator dangling from her impressive jaws.

Her tail thumps along the ground when they take notice. Lester manages a chuckle at it, before he’s dragged off to the medical bay.

* * *

“Jess, are you alright?” Zehavi asks. Jess nods, sharply, once. It’s not like she saw her girlfriend’s second cousin crush a Future Predator’s spine between her teeth in front of her, or anything.

She’s fine, though- she’s more than aware that Shoshannah was capable of that. She’s not blind to what they’ve done over the years- Moondancers are  _ strong _ and they fight like hell when their people are being threatened.

“We’re all going to die, aren’t we?”

“Eventually, but not today,” Zehavi replies. Something behind her eyes  _ burns, _ and the familiar dark brown is replaced with equally familiar lupine gold as her girlfriend grits her teeth.

Jess makes her way over to the computer console, plants her hands on the desk, and breathes evenly. She grits her own teeth, and looks at the monitors.

“I can do this,” she says to the blurry reflection of herself, “I can do this.”

She turns to Zehavi and Abby and Emily and Sarah and… Esme, who’s leaving out the other door.

“There was more than one. None of the others came quite close enough once the silencers were tripped.”

Abby comes up with the idea of using sound. Zehavi is the one to put in earplugs and warn the rest of those looking for the predators to do the same.

Zehavi takes out the next one, not even bothering to shift. She just moves into the middle of the room, steps to the side, and grabs it by the neck, and squeezes.

Jess might normally be upset at seeing something like that face to face, but right now, she’s just reminded of how  _ strong _ Zehavi is.

* * *

Shoshannah thinks she might be in love with Esme Cantor.

She thinks she’s not the first one that’s forgotten that the other young woman is  _ Invulnerable _ with a capital I. She wades right through the Future Predators, grabs one by the hand, and holds it until they shoot. And she does it two more times before they get back to the bullpen and she’s reminded just how much this sort of sound  _ hurts. _

But, well, Connor’s got a Sun Cage. Sarah is very quick to point out that this, here, was based on the first anomaly  _ she _ was present for, the first anomaly  _ Becker _ was present for, and that there is a clear precedence for how this one works.

Shoshannah remembers. She remembers well, remembers a crocodilian that wouldn’t listen to her and blood on all of their hands. A failure, but a failure that had taught them much. It might very well have been the single most influential natural anomaly that they’ve dealt with in all of these years, these scattered few while Shoshannah has been in her final stage of growing up, these years that feel like so much longer.

“I trust you,” she tells Connor, “We all do.”

She doesn’t want to cower, not now. If she’s going to die in an apocalyptic hellscape brought on by an anomaly the size of a city block, it’s going to happen now, not in a few months, a few years, a few decades.

And then, Matt takes the wheel of the car.

Shoshannah knows, as her stomach drops, that she’s going to accept one of her pack’s death, later than this, hopefully, but someday. And likely, more than one, over the course of the years.

But she takes comfort in the fact that if it was  _ today, _ Aviv would have warned her.

Or maybe her knowledge only goes this far. Who knows.

But when Matt stumbles out of the dust- Shoshannah thinks that she just might.

She doesn’t know when Cutter got here, or when Stephen did, or Sarah or Zehavi or Jess or Danny or her mother or Esme or even Patrick showed up between there and back at the ARC, somehow (she doesn’t know how they got there, either).

She just knows this:

She will not leave these people. She will protect them with all that she has, and then some, because they are hers and she is theirs, her pack, no matter how strange of one they may be.

* * *

“How’s Lester?” Zehavi asks, once they extract themselves from the cuddle pile, and everyone realizes there are probably some injuries that need attending to.

“He’s going to be okay,” Jess says with a laugh, “He’s already threatening to sack the medics.”

Becker races away, and Zehavi relaxes, a soft smile on her face. Jess looks… odd, tapping her foot against the ground strangely, almost nervous.

“What? What is it?”

“I… I need to talk to you,” Jess says. Zehavi didn’t know that joy and anxiety could even spike at the same time, but her heart leaps into her throat all the same.

“What about?” she manages to croak out. Jess giggles, and tucks some of Zehavi’s hair behind an ear, before she steps back, and takes a deep breath.

“I knew I was going to do this,” Jess says, “The second you walked through that door, right there, when you came back. It’s why I brought it up in the first place, to make sure we were on the same page.”

Zehavi smiles, a little fragile.

“Jess, are you sure-”

“Zehavi Sokol, I don’t know what disparaging thing you’re going to say about yourself to convince me not to ask, and I’m going to continue not to know, because I don’t care. I have seen you at your worst, and I love you more than ever.”

“And I have seen you at yours, and I feel the same,” Zehavi continues, curling a hand around Jess’s. Jess smiles softly.

“Yeah, sure, we might be going through this a little quicker than everyone else did, but I do not have rose colored glasses about you, about us.  _ I love you, _ and I have never been more sure of any decision, any question, in my entire life than I am about this one, right now.”

“Then ask it.”

“I was gonna.”

Zehavi laughs.

“Zehavi Sokol, I love you quite literally to the end of the world and back. Will you marry me?”

Zehavi laughs, and calms, dead serious.

“I don’t know when I knew,” she replies, “Sometime today, maybe- you on the comms, calmer at what we thought was the end of the world than most people are in a drizzle, but yeah, I knew. And with no doubts, no regrets, I say this- yes, Jessica Parker, I will marry you.”

The ring’s a simple little thing, not the ostentatious monstrosity most people will at least consider when shopping for an engagement ring. It’s practical.

It’s  _ Zehavi’s _ engagement ring, not anyone else’s.

“I love you so much, you know that?” she asks. Jess nods.

“Yeah. I do.”

* * *

Matt rejoins the little team meeting, a spring in his step.

The mood is light. Most of it is relief, he thinks, but there’s also a very unique group of people, here at the ARC- real members, past and present, one former enemy, a half a dozen new people that chat quietly with Lester- likely recruits from Rebecca’s plan of action via grabbing the entirety of supernatural London in on her backup group to save the world. Someone’s gone home and grabbed Ronnie, too- the toddler is passed around a little while from person to person, and the raptors that have decided that they’re uninterested in eating Future Predator meat are curled up on the floor.

“It would be weird, being normal again,” Connor says.

“We’re never going to be normal,” Jenny scoffs- Matt doesn’t know when she showed up, just that she did, and that she’s running PR in the background (and is she talking about a world-wide mindwipe? That’s… interesting). Matt notes Zehavi’s not here- that’s odd. Jess isn’t either.

The phone rings. Lester moves to answer it.

“James Lester,” he says, and hums, “Understood.”

Lester laughs, softly, under his breath.

“So much for being  _ normal, _ Connor. A train just left King’s Cross, disappeared into thin air. Sorry, does that sound familiar to anyone? Anomalies? Chop-chop!”

“We’ll take this one,” Danny volunteers, grabbing the various errant members of his family together, “You all try to get a few minutes of rest before we deal with the next one.”

“No, we’ll take care of it.”

Jess materializes out of seemingly nowhere, tosses black boxes at various people. The comms are down, and Matt goes to grab his phone, before… he pauses.

It’s  _ him _ , at the end of the hallway. Injured, but still clearly  _ him. _ Something’s off in the eyes. Matt takes a step back.

“Go back,” the other him says, “You have to go back.”

Matt can’t breathe. The other him raises a hand to his eyes, and-

Removes a set of contacts.

The eyes are brown.

“You should have seen your  _ face _ , Matt,” Zehavi says, “And was I getting ‘oh no not again’ from you? Oh, wow.”

Matt punches her. In the shoulder, not in the face, but enough to express how he’s not happy with the current situation.

“Hey, is that any way to behave to a woman who got engaged less than half an hour ago? I’m inviting you to my  _ wedding, _ you jerk.”

“You just got engaged too?” Abby hollers across the base. Zehavi stretches up (as if she had to), and waves.

“Yeah!”

Matt finally laughs, and hugs his friend. Zehavi rolls her eyes and grabs his hand.

“Come on, idiot. Let’s fight some prehistoric animals.”

“Yes ma’am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had that idea of "the matt vision is just zehavi punking him" since i introduced zehavi to the fic


	27. wonderment (wonder meant)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> last chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay.

It’s Jess who insists on a traditional wedding. Zehavi doesn’t care either way- she’d marry Jess on a busy city street in sweatpants, if it meant it was happening.

Speaking of which, when it comes to weddings in sweatpants, that’s on Abby and Connor, who drag everyone they can wake up at the proper hour to their own ceremony. It’s really sweet. Rex is there. The reception is so stuffed with dinosaurs that Zehavi doesn’t know where to walk without tripping over a raptor.

Abby’s grin could probably outshine the sun while she dances with a lizard clinging to her head, and drags Connor into the fray as well. Zehavi grabs one of the glasses of juice for the underage cousin or two that was here for the afterparty before this one. She can’t get drunk, might as well grab something sweet.

Connor and Abby’s foreheads are pressed together, Rex winding around both of their shoulders. It’s sweeter than the juice that Zehavi holds in her cup. Adorable, and utterly unfair. They’ve always been unfairly cute together, now they’re just rubbing it in. She tamps down her laughter with a sip of the juice, and nearly spits it out when Rex flies over to land on Lester’s head instead.

“You alright?” Rebecca asks. Zehavi finally properly laughs, and crams herself down onto the couch, making sure she gives her cousin space.

“Yeah, more than alright,” she replies. Rebecca smiles.

“It’s nice,” she says, “To see everyone so happy.”

“It really is,” Zehavi hums. Rebecca leaves, and Patrick slides into her place on the couch.

“Are  _ you _ alright? I know we can be a bit on the loud side.”

“No, Aya’s been making sure I’m not freaking out. Haven’t you, sweet girl?” he asks, scratching the Deinonychus under the chink. The raptor in question snorts and gives Zehavi the sort of look that screams  _ have you seen this guy? He’s ridiculous, _ but since Zehavi can’t translate, she’s not going to make any assumptions.

“Ach, I can’t believe I’m doing this tomorrow.”

“You mean the wedding? Because I’m pretty sure a traditional Jewish wedding, no matter how lax, isn’t going to be the same one as a courthouse wedding.”

“Oh, you have no idea. Did you know Jess’s parents have been calling her twice a day to yell at her and tell her they’re not going? I mean come  _ on, _ there’s a point where you need to give up. She’s twenty-four, not a child.”

“Did you know I’d never heard of a ketubah before you told me what it was?”

“I figured, given white guy from an Anglican background,” Zehavi replies, “You didn’t even know breaking the glass was a thing, I mean  _ really. _ Pathetic.”

“I just wanted to say congratulations,” Patrick says, “And-”

“My grandmother is still insistent on me helping out with whatever the hell she’s meddling in that involves so many people. Ugh, this has taken up so much of my brain that I can’t even remember-”

“You told me,” he murmurs, so quiet that only Zehavi can pick it up in all of this noise, “I’ll take care of it. Consider it your wedding present- you get to ask me to take care of whatever it is that Ziva Sokol keeps asking you to deal with.”

“You already got me half a dozen of those jackets I like so much, though.”

“That’s just because I don’t know anyone else who likes sheepskin lined jackets.”

Zehavi laughs.

The next day, she and Jess break a glass under their foot below the chuppah, while their friends and family shout congratulations.

In a moment alone, she whispers, trying not to laugh, to her  _ wife- _

“Wouldn’t it be awful if we had to go fight a dinosaur in our wedding dresses?”

That’s about when the anomaly detector on Cutter’s hip blares out loud enough that Zehavi can hear it, even as far away as they are now.

“I’ll take care of it,” Jess says, “You go change. Could you grab your  _ nice _ jacket so we can still get some good photos later? Please?”

“Aww, I love you too, honey.”

* * *

Abby ducks, narrowly missing the truly immense set of paws that close over what would have been her head. The bear-dog (or at least, that’s what the collective of paleontology nerds say it is) snarls, and lunges again.

A deep, rumbling snarl, and Abby knows she’s going to be fine, because the bear-dog is bowled over by a combined… ton? Are they a short ton put together? Of sharp-clawed Moondancer as both make a running leap.

“Did you just yell at a giant prehistoric carnivore to go home?”

_ “Hasn’t that been my job from the start?” _ Shoshannah asks, tossing her head. Abby snorts, and pulls the Moondancer down by her neck as Emily hollers for them to move out of the way, slinging a seed bomb at the bear-dog as Zehavi pulls Abby out by the scruff of her neck, and heads back for Shoshannah afterwards.

“Abby, are you alright?” Connor asks, helping haul Abby up onto the shipping crate and out of the way while Matt takes aim. Shoshannah sinks her fingers, shifted back, into the side of the shipping container, and hauls herself up, rolling onto her back and staring at the rest of the group.

“Oh, so we’re all hiding up here,” she says flatly, and leans over the crate to grab Zehavi. Abby hauls the young woman back until they’re all standing on top of the shipping container, staring at the anomaly that’s somehow managed to sit itself in the middle of a temporary barrier.

“Emily! Get out of the kill box!”

She has to admit that’s a good word for it. They scramble out of the range of the bear-dogs again, peering over the shipping containers, glad there’s at least  _ something _ in these ones so they won’t shuffle slowly towards the anomaly, dragged in by its magnetic pull.

The problem, of course, with the anomaly being boxed in is the fact that there’s no place for them to retreat if something new makes its way through before they can get the anomaly closed… which is how the issue with the bear-dogs first presented itself.

Which means, they’re going to have to shoot very close to the bear-dogs, but not quite hit them, or hit them with a low powered enough shot that it’ll simply scare them back through the anomaly.

Needless to say, this is not going very well.

“Are we really just going to wait until they bother to go back through?” Becker grumbles, “And how the hell has nobody picked up on this? Are bear-dogs just not as interesting as a blue and black T-rex?”

“Dunno. Ask Jenny. She was the one running PR after.”

“I will. Zehavi?”

“I can’t influence them, Becker, stop asking. Just because I figured out how to do that with monkeys doesn’t mean it applies to everything.”

“Aw, come on, it’s always worth it to  _ try-” _

Despite the presence of immense carnivores at the bottom of the kill box, it devolves into familiar, affectionate squabbling. One might almost guess that Zehavi hadn’t left her wedding reception for this.

And, like a flicker of lightning- Abby remembers.

“Hey, I don’t think we ever properly raided Danny’s popcorn stash and got together and slept on a big pile on Rebecca’s couch,” she says.

“Right, we’ve been so busy with all of the post-Convergence crises-”

“And two weddings,” Emily wisely interjects.

“And two weddings, that we must have just completely forgotten about it.”

“Come on, can we do this later? There’s three hypercarnivores below us right now and-” Matt tries, before he’s interrupted by Connor.

“I think we’d all like to get back to Zehavi and Jess’s wedding reception-”

_ “I sure would,” _ Jess says on the comms,  _ “I’m still in my wedding dress, you know.” _

Abby can’t help herself. She laughs.

Becker curses, and fires another shot, clearly finally hitting somewhere painful enough to drive the things back through, long enough for Connor to get in there with the locking device.

“Alright, move these shipping crates,” Matt tells Shoshannah and Zehavi, who stare at him blankly.

“What, you both have enhanced strength, you can do it! And we don’t have time to explain to whatever crew would normally be doing this why they need to be-”

He’s cut off when Shoshannah punt-kicks one of the empty crates away, leaving an immense dent.

“YES! APPROVAL TO THROW SHIT!”

“Were we like that when we were her age?” Abby asks Connor, eyes narrowed. He snorts.

“Absolutely not.”

* * *

Jenny spooks when Jess wheels around in her chair, eyes narrowed. She’s reminded of herself, as the young woman leans on her knees, skirt of her wedding dress fanning over the chair.

“So, what sort of magic did you do to hide what happened? I looked. There’s no mention of anything about it on any social media, and believe me, you’d have to do something very impressive to get rid of  _ all _ of that.”

“I have my methods,” Jenny replies cryptically. She knows damn well what she did, knows how she sunk her fingers into the threads of the world and frayed so few, so carefully, just to make people  _ forget _ , and, with more difficulty, to make the  _ Internet _ forget. It might very well be her finest moment.

But she’s never going to tell them about it. Not because she doesn’t trust them, but because if she did, the “literal Public Relations wizard” jokes would never end, not in a million years.

She smiles, and goes back to making sure all of her work is, indeed, done. Not like she needs to, but she needs to  _ pretend _ to do  _ something _ so that these people will stop asking questions.

After today, she gets to go home, live the quiet life again.

Jess knows  _ something, _ clearly. Her eyes are sharp in the way that makes Jenny just a little nervous, but she goes back to doing… whatever it is she’s doing… on the computers.

“Why are you looking at the Eastern Seaboard?” she asks, “I was under the impression that they, specifically, had their own team.”

“They just added a Rex to their collection, they’re a little scattered right now,” Jess replies, before holding her hands up, “Not the one from here- but they still have to integrate another animal into their collection, so I figured… I’d help out a little bit?”

“On your  _ wedding day? _ Jess, I think you have a problem.”

“Hey, I met my wife through this job, don’t judge me,” Jess replies, knees up to her chest, “And some of the other people I care about more than… anyone else in the world, I think.”

“Not your parents?”

“My parents didn’t show up for said wedding of mine, Jenny, I’m not exactly on the best of terms with them.”

“Right.”

“But it’s… it’s alright. I’ve got a new family, this hive mind of a pack that loves me half to death. So yeah. I’m happy to come into work on my wedding day, because I’m saving lives, and I’m still with some of the people I care about most in the world.”

Jenny thinks the fondness probably shows on her face. As she’s about to say something, the door opens.

“Looks like that’s your wife right now,” she hums.

Jess’s smile could light up a room.

* * *

It’s a bit difficult to cram everyone onto the couch, so it’s decided amongst the rest of them that, as the two members of the group with chronic pain, Nick and Stephen will get the couch.

Nick doesn’t mind their fussing over him, and even less their fussing over Stephen, who takes off his leg but otherwise doesn’t relax all that much, cramming himself into the smallest space possible so that more people can cram onto the couch.

That, however, doesn’t seem to be the plan. With a holler of victory, Danny appears to have found his popcorn stash, which gathers cheers from the rest of the team, assembled with blankets all across the floor. Emily and Sarah end up being the last to take up space on the couch, and Stephen finally relaxes enough to actually, well, relax. He’s nearly hit in the face by a bowl of popcorn, and Nick’s nearly hit by the next. Fortunately, Nick’s reflexes have not entirely left him.

“Oh, cheese? Nice,” Emily hums, leaning over Sarah to steal out of a squawking Stephen’s bowl. Sarah sighs.

“Can someone get Emily her own bowl of popcorn so I don’t get an earful from Stephen about this?”

She’s hit with the bag of popcorn, square in the face. Sarah blinks, for a moment, clearly grateful that the bag is sealed well enough that popcorn hadn’t gone flying, before glaring at whoever threw the bag.

Nick saw which one of the people on the floor it was. A grinning Matt, who’s clearly trying to avoid giving himself up as the bag thrower. Becker casually leans in front of him, blocking him from view.

These people are idiots. But they’re his idiots, so that’s what really matters.

“I was promised Clone Wars?” Connor pipes up.

“What’s Clone Wars?” Matt asks, leaning over Becker.

There are gasps of outrage- one, obviously, from Connor, but another from Shoshannah and yet another from Danny. Which does make sense, given the fact that one of them is relatively new to adulthood and the other one is a parent.

Nick leans back as they bicker about it- apparently the Azose house is in possession of DVDs of all of the seasons, Rebecca loudly announcing that no matter what Disney does to the franchise she’d never raise a child that wasn’t at least  _ aware _ of Star Wars and Sarah asking if that includes the prequels-

He sits up sharply with a gasp. The room goes dead quiet.

“You alright, Professor?”

“I just remembered- we missed Pride this year, didn’t we? And-”

There’s a chorus of groans from the assembled packmates as the information sinks in.

“Watch  _ next _ year be postponed or cancelled altogether too,” Becker grumbles, “I cannot  _ believe, _ I have not missed Pride since I was  _ eighteen _ -”

“Same here,” Danny says, to a high-five from Becker.

“What’s Pride?” Matt and Emily say at the same time, to another chorus of squawking as the rest of the group try to explain the virtues of London Pride to the man from the future and the woman from the Victorian era while they slowly consider it. Nick’s got an Idea, though.

“Why don’t we show them?”

“Right!”

And that’s how they end up all wrapped up in a memory, flickering across various minds that remember London’s 2018 Pride, different eyes in different places, and when they walked together when they could.

Emily’s hands, in this dream, memory, or whatever the hell it is, skim across the floats, watch the bold costumes and joy in the eyes of those marching. Matt looks to the colors, and they can  _ feel _ how stunned he is, now, just looking at them, watching so many swirl around him as the sun goes down and the glowsticks are brought out.

Nick thinks he catches tears on their faces as they watch Becker catch glowing necklaces through Nick’s eyes, and see the scene from Stephen’s eyes, where he sits on Becker’s shoulders- oh, Nick remembers this, remembers how Becker had insisted when he’d felt the discomfort radiating off of him. Remembers how Shoshannah had landed on his shoulder, an osprey in a sea of people, doing nothing but watching, taking in this wonder with sharper eyes than her own.

Coming back to a room full of people he cares about so much is almost better.

“So,” Matt says, “Clone Wars, then?”

They settle in, probably every pillow in this house and then some strewn across the floor. Pearl and Cinnamon curl next to Shoshannah where she leans on her mother, while Aya decides to slink over to Jess instead. Patrick has settled himself awkwardly in a corner, still thoroughly enjoying the episode once it’s begun. There is a soft, gentle smile on his face, the kind that Nick hadn’t ever expected to see on it.

“Alright, listen up,” Connor says, “Season two onwards, and this episode, this show is  _ amazing, _ but the first season does need work at times and I am willing to be an adult and admit it-”

“Shut up and watch the show, Conn!” Abby shouts, and throws a pillow at his head.

Nick laughs.

* * *

“Hey, you’re not watching the show?” Patrick asks, when Zehavi joins him outside. She shakes her head with a snort.

“I spoiled one of the reveals. I think Connor might have actually murdered me if I stayed in there any longer. Danny might get kicked out too, soon, actually, he seemed pretty close to saying that-”

“No, no, don’t tell me,” Patrick laughs, “Oh, this is weird. You think, in the cave, we ever dreamt something like this would happen?”

“Did you? I can’t exactly speak for you, Patrick.”

“Are you forgetting you’re a telepath? I’m pretty sure you can,” he replies, poking at her arm. Zehavi rolls her eyes, and adjusts her jacket, before slipping her left hand in her pocket.

“I don’t think either of us could have really imagined this,” she says, cocking her head to the side, “I knew about the whole ‘apocalyptic future’ thing, but then I was in the Pliocene, then the Pleistocene, and… no, I don’t think I ever guessed anything like this would happen. You, a respectable member of society again, especially.”

“I don’t think I could have ever imagined you with short hair,” Patrick says, indicating her dark curls, “Or, well, shorter hair.”

“Hey, I had split ends. I’m glad I could salvage this much, honestly.”

“I’m still in disbelief you actually got the chop.”

“Patrick, I got it as soon as we got  _ back,  _ are you kidding me?”

Patrick sighs, and shakes his head.

“As much as I’d like to talk about low-stakes things with my friend until the sun burns out of the sky, we’ve got more pressing matters. Have we figured out what to do with this?”

He shifts something in his hands. It takes Zehavi a moment for her memory to reboot.

He’s holding the  _ artefact. _ The one that…

The one that they’d fixed and brought back with them, along with an opening device. An opening device that is still sitting in her home.

“You totally forgot, didn’t you?”

“As long as you keep hiding it, we never have to mention it again,” Zehavi says, “But be careful.”

Danny opens the door, sticking his head out. In the corner of her eye, Zehavi notices that the artefact has become an innocuous piece of jewelry again in Patrick’s hands.

“You two ready to come back in?”

“Yeah,” Zehavi says, a soft smile on her face when she notices Jess just past the man, “We are.”

She’s walloped with a pillow as soon as she makes it six feet in.

“Oh, that’s how it’s going to be?” she asks, grabbing a pillow of her own. Her cousin runs.

The uneasiness slowly smooths itself away. She falls asleep in a room filled with people she cares for so dearly, hand in her wife’s.

Zehavi can’t help but smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Okay.  
> This was... a lot for me? It's been only four months before I've started this fic, and already, it's done at 92k. Some of these OCs have been swirling around my head for... a long time, though usually in their more mature forms (can you believe that Shoshannah was initially supposed to be a twenty-five year old with a couple of the same issues who'd had Aya for *years?*).  
> This might actually be the first time that I've spent a significant portion of a *very long* fic working on OC character development? It's nice, but it's also done a lot. to my brain. I love this series. So much.


End file.
